CALIFORNIA. 

A 

PLEASURE    TRIP 

PROM 

YOEK  TO  SAN  FEANOISOO. 


PLEASURE    TRIP 

FROM 

GOTHAM  TO  THE  GOLDEN  GATE. 

(APRIL,  MAY,  JUNE,  1877.) 

BY 
MBS.  FEAKK    LESLIE. 

PROFUSELY    ILLUSTRATED. 


NEW    YORK: 

G.    W.    Carleton  &   Co.,  Publishers. 

LONDON  :     S.  LOW,  SON   &  CO. 
MDCCCLXXVII. 


COPYRIGHT,  1877, 

BY 
MRS.    FRANK    LESLIE. 


TROW'S 

PRINTING  AND  BOOKBINDING  COMPANY, 
205-213  East  \f.th  St., 
NEW    YORK. 


PREFATORY,  TO  THE  READER. 


EAR  five  hundred  friends  already  mine,  and  five  hundred 
I  J  hundred  more,  who  will,  as  I  fondly  dream,  become  mine 
through  these  pages,  let  me  disarm  criticism  beforehand  by  assur 
ing  you  that  nobody  could  point  out  a  fault  or  a  shortcoming  in 
this  little  book,  which  I  do  not  know  all  about  and  deplore  most 
modestly  beforehand.  In  fact  I  have  my  doubts  as  to  calling 
it  a  book  at  all,  that  title  implying  a  purpose,  and  deliberate- 
ness,  and  method,  which  are  not  of  my  circle,  although  regarded 
by  me  with  respectful  admiration.  No,  let  us  rather  say,  that 
this  work  of  mine  is  a  vehicle,  through  which,  with  feminine 
longing  for  sympathy,  I  convey  to  you  my  pleasures,  annoy 
ances,  and  experiences  in  the  journey  it  narrates;  or,  if  you  like 
better,  it  is  a  casket,  enshrining  the  memory  of  many  a  pleasant 
hour  made  bright  and  indelible  by  your  companionship,  your 
kindness,  your  attention  and  hospitality. 

The  world  is  so  exigeant,  and  Time  the  Effacer  is  so  ruthless, 
that  one  loves  sometimes  to  "  materialize "  those  pleasant, 
or  more  than  pleasant  recollections,  and  so  put  them  not  only 


0  PREFATORY,  TO  THE  READER. 

beyond  the  risk  of  loss  from  one's  own  memory,  but  in  such 
form  that  they  can  be  communicated  anew  to  those  who  origin 
ally  shared  them. 

Take  then  my  embodied  recollections,  dear  friends,  and  each 
of  you  find  among  them  the  one  memory  distinctively  your 
own,  and  believe  that  round  that  central  point  all  the  rest  are 
constellated  ;  and  for  you,  O  critics  !  if  you  will  indeed  at 
tempt  to  bind  a  butterfly  upon  the  wheel,  or  anatomize  the 
vapory  visions  of  a  woman's  memory,  remember  that  in  all 
courtesy  you  should  deal  gently  and  generously  with  a  work 
proclaiming  itself  from  the  outset  not  so  much  a  book  as  a  long 
gossipy  letter  to  one's  friends,  and  an  amiable  attempt  to  con 
vey  to  the  rest  of  the  world  some  of  the  delight  it  commemor 
ates,  and  if  you  do  not  find  a  great  deal  in  it,  dear  critic, 
remember  that  to  competently  judge  a  woman's  letter  or  a 
woman's  book,  one  must  have  learned  to  read  between  the 
lines  and  find  there  the  pith  and  meaning  of  the  whole. 

M.  FLORENCE  LESLIE. 
NEW  YORK,  November,  1877. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

ON  THE  ICE  UNDER  NIAGARA  FALLS 23 

GRAND  PACIFIC  HOTEL,  CHICAGO. 34 

CROSSING  DALE  CREEK  BRIDGE— 130  FEET  HIGH 38 

ON  THE  INCLINED  RAILWAY  TO  THE  FOOT  OF  NIAGARA  FALLS 41 

STARTING  FOR  THE  BLACK  HILLS  FROM  CHEYENNE 48 

INTERIOR  OF  THE  THEATRE  AT  CHEYENNE 50 

GAMBLING  BOOTHS  IN  THE  EARLY  YEARS  OF  THE  RAILROADS 52 

EVADING  THE  LIQUOR  LAW  AT  COLORADO  SPRINGS 56 

MANITOU  SPRINGS,  COLORADO 56 

PETRIFIED  FORMS  OF  WONDER,  COLORADO 60 

CROSSING  THE  MISSISSIPPI 63 

PRAIRIE  DOG  TOWN 71 

CO-OPERATIVE  UNION  BUILDING,  SALT  LAKE  CITY. 80 

THE  "  TWINS,"  MARIPOSA  GROVE. 90 

SOME  OF  THE  LATE  BRIGHAM  YOUNG'S  RESIDENCES  IN  SALT  LAKE 

CITY , 93 

TAKING  LEAVE  OF  BRIGHAM  YOUNG. 102 

NEW  MORMON  TEMPLE  AS  IT  WILL  APPEAR  WHEN  COMPLETED 103 

HUMBOLDT    RIVER  AND  CANON 104 

THE  GOLDEN  GATE— THE  ENTRANCE  TO  THE  HARBOR  OF  SAN  FRAN 
CISCO 113 

THE  " NOBLE  SAVAGE"..,  ,.  114 


viii  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

BELMONT,  THE  COUNTRY-SEAT  or  THE  LATEW.  A.  RALSTON 125 

SALMON  FISHING,  SACRAMENTO  RIVER 128 

SWEETMEAT  VENDER,  CHINESE  THEATRE,  SAN  FRANCISCO 136 

PROPITIATING  FORTUNE  BEFORE  SPECULATING 143 

STREET  IN  THE  CHINESE  QUARTER,  SAN  FRANCISCO 145 

A  PERIPATETIC  COBBLER 145 

CHINESE  Joss  HOUSE,  SAN  FRANCISCO 148 

CHINESE  BARBER,  SAN  FRANCISCO. 1 54 

OUR  "  HIGH  CASTE  "  CHINESE  ACCOUNTANT 162 

POISON  OAK,  CAL * 167 

A  CHINESE  GOLDSMITH 169 

CHINESE  PASTRY  COOK 171 

THE  INEVITABLE  WINDMILL 174 

THE  CLIFF  HOUSE 178 

SEAL  ROCKS,  HARBOR  OF  SAN  FRANCISCO 180 

SETTLERS  IN  ECHO  CANON 193 

THE  WITCHES'  CAULDRON,  CAL 205 

A  DRIVE  WITH  FOSSE  OF  FOSSEVILLE 212 

ON  THE  ROAD  TO  THE  "Bio  TREES  " ,..  217 

MAKING  A  NIGHT  OF  IT 227 

EN  ROUTE  FOR  THE  YOSEMITE + 231 

ASCENDING  THE  "  FALLEN  MONARCH  " 244 

CUTTING  DOWN  ONE  OF  THE  BIG  TREES 246 

THE  OLDEST  WOMAN  IN  THE  WORLD 259 

CUTTING  BARK  AND  CONES  AS  MEMENTOES  OF  THE  MARIPOSA  GROVE.  276 
THE  CALIFORNIA  OR  MOUNTAIN  LIONS  AT  GREEN  RIVER  STATION.  . . .  284 
FAITHFUL  FOLLETTE.  . .  286 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  L 

THE  BEGINNING. 

PAGB 

Our  temporary  Home. — Sweet  Sleep.— Niagara  in  View. — The  in 
clined  Railway. — An  improvised  Repast. — A  word  of  Caution..  17-23 

CHAPTER  IL 

THE  TAGUS  AND  LAKE  ERIE. 

The  Office  of  the  u  Toledo  Blade."— First  impressions  of  Prairie.— 
Chicago  Explored. — Mr.  Pullman's  palatial  House. — The  Stew 
arts  of  Chicago. — Academy  of  Fine  Arts. — A  twelve- year-old 
Artist. — Chicago's  Water  Works. — Chicago  a  thing  of  Promise. 
—The  Grand  Pacific  Hotel . .  . .  24-34 


CHAPTER  III. 

HOTEL  CARS  V6T8US  EMIGRANT  TRAINS. 

A  Delmonican  Repast.— Poetic  Fancies. — The  City  of  Omaha. — Mot 
ley  groups  of  People. — A  party  of  Emigrants. — A  homely 
Dinner. 35-41 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   UNMENTIONABLE  PLACE. 

An  early  Awakening. — Delayed  by  an  Accident. — The  Magic  City 
of  the  Plains. — Cheyenne  a  true  Frontier  Town. — Salubrity  of 
Cheyenne. — Courtesy  of  Frontiersmen. — Conductor  "Jim 
Cahoon." — Theatre  and  Gambling  Saloon. — The  Opera  House. 
—Study  for  Archaeologists 42-52 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  GODS. 

PAGE 

An  agreeable  Entertainment. — Colorado  Springs. — Residence  of 
Helen  Hunt,  "  H.  H."— Grace  Greenwood's  Home.— "  The 
Garden  of  the  Gods." — A  Scene  for  an  Artist. — Petrified  forms 
of  Wonder. — A  Treasure  rarer  than  Gold. — Detained  by  a  high 
Wind.— The  best  remains  Behind 53-63 

CHAPTER  VI. 

CATHEDRALS,    CASTLES,    CITIES  NOT  BUILT  BY  HANDS. 

The  Playground  of  forgotten  Titans. — A  Miracle  of  Engineering. — 
Action  of  Weather  and  Time. — Slender  and  fantastic  Rocks. — 
The  1,000  mile  Tree.— Utah,  the  Land  of  Thrift.— Advanced 
Civilization..... 64-71 

CHAPTER  VII. 

SALT  LAKE   CITY.      MRS.    AMELIA'S  PICTURES.      MISS  SNOW. 

A  Fragment  of  a  Sermon. — The  City  of  the  Saints. — Cleanliness  of 
Salt  Lake  City. — Sensitiveness  of  Mormon  Ladies. — Brigham 
Young's  favorite  Wife. — Manufactures  of  Mormon  Women. — 
Training  the  rising  Generation. — Miss  Snow  and  her  chosen 
People. 72-80 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

A  FIRST-CLASS  MORMON  INTERIOR. 

Elevation  of  Mormon  Women. — Are  Mormon  Women  a  jealous  Race  ? 
— "  Sealing,"  a  mere  Marriage  of  Time. — Mr.  Young,  a  Patron 
of  the  Drama. — The  true  Woman  view  of  Polygamy. — Polygamy 
discussed. — Utah  Women  on  a  par  with  the  Men. — The  Mor 
mons'  Religion  their  Stronghold. — The  Tabernacle  and  the 
President 81-90 


CHAPTER  IX. 

A  LION  THAT  WE   SAW  AND  A  LION  THAT  WE  HEARD. 

Description  of  the  Tabernacle. — The  President's  House. — Moham 
medanism  and  Mormonism. — Amelia's  Palace. — Interview  with 
Mr.  Young. — His  strength  and  earnestness. — Joseph  Smith  in 
spired. — Ann  Eliza,  the  recreant  Spouse. — Domestic  Harmony. 
— Mormon  impartiality. — Mormon  Children  a  fine  Race. — Death 
of  Brigham  Young 91-103 


CONTENTS. 
CHAPTER  X. 

PHILOSOPHY,    SHOSHONES,    AND 

PAGE 

"Up  boys,  and  at  them." — Contemplating  the  noble  Savage. — 
Habiliments  of  uthe  Braves." — The  passage  of  the  Sierras. — 
Impressive  grandeur  of  the  Scenery. — Invocation  to  Tourists. — 
The  wonderful  power  of  Water. — Man's  greed  of  Gain. — Sacra 
mento  a  gigantic  Bouquet. — Rest  and  comfort 104-114 

CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  PALACE  HOTEL,    PHOTOGRAPHY  AND  THE   STREETS. 

Magnificence  of  the  Palace  Hotel. — The  Architecture  of  San  Fran 
cisco. — High  prices  prevail. — An  exhilarating  Climate. — Cos 
mopolitanism  of  the  Population. — Social  Law  in  San  Fran 
cisco. — Ascendancy  of  the  Romish  Faith. — The  Sabbath  in  San 
Francisco 115-123 

CHAPTER  XII. 

A  PRINCE   AND   A  PALACE. 

The  princely  W.  A.  Ralston.— The  days  of  Belmont's  glory. — Death 

of  Mr.  Ralston.— Sorrow  for  Mr.  Ralston. 124-128 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

A  MEMORABLE   VISIT. 

The  Scenery  around  Belmont. — Belmont  an  Architect's  Vision. — 
Interior  elegance  of  Belmont. — A  Sketch  of  Mr.  Sharon. — An 
Evening's  Entertainment. — The  chill  and  damp  Sea  Wind. — Our 
leave-taking 129-136 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
THE  BROKER'S  BOARD  AND  THE  CITY  PRISON. 

The  San  Francisco  Board  of  Brokers. — The  Barbary  Coast  explored. 
— The  County  Jail  in  San  Francisco.— Characteristics  of  the 
Prisoners.— Need  for  another  Elizabeth  Fry 137-142 

CHAPTER  XV. 

THE   WAYS   THAT   ARE   DARK. 

The  Mongolian   Merchants.— The  Shopkeepers  in  China  town. —  * 
China  town  in  the  Evening. — Expressionless  Features  of  the 
Chinese. — Joss-houses  and  Joss-sticks. — The   Shrines  of  the 


xii  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Devotees. — Ceremony  of  Chinc&mning  Joss. — Divinities  of  the 
Chinese. — Curiosity  of  the  Street  Crowd. — The  Chinaman's 
Tonsorial  Luxury. — Domestic  Peculiarities  of  the  Chinese .  143-154 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

ACT  LIII. — SCENE   102. — AN  OPIUM  DEN. 

Theatrical  Performances. — Grotesqueness  of  the  Actors. — Acrobatic 
Agility. — An  Opium  Den. — How  Opium  is  smoked. —Effects  of 
Opium  Smoking. — Use  of  Opium  by  White  People 155-163 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

WORSE   THAN   DEATH. 

"No,  No,  Me  no  Mally,  no  Wife  !  "—Women  Sacrificed  to  Lives  of 
Infamy. — Revolting  Feminine  Traffic. — A  Humiliating  Con 
fession 163-1G7 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

SUPPER  AT  A  CELESTIAL   RESTAURANT. 

Midnight  Wanderings. — The  Genuine  National  Cuisine. — The  Ban 
quet  and  the  Viands. — Chinese  Servants. — Chinese  Labor 
Excellent  and  Reliable. — John  is  a  fixed  Fact  in  California.  .168-174 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
WOODWARD'S  GARDEN  AND  SEAL  ROCKS. 

A  Fine  Zoological  Collection.— Social  Courtesies.— The  Cliff  House 
a  Popular  Resort. — Golden  Gate  Park. — The  Discordant  Sea- 
lions. — The  Cemeteries  at  Lone  Mountain 175-181 

CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  TIES  OF  CALIFORNIA  BUSINESS  PARTNERSHIPS. 

Architecture  of  San  Francisco. —Ornate  Residences  on  the  Cliffs.— 

The  Mission  Dolores.— Clay  Hill  Elevated  Railway 182-180 

CHAPTER  XXI, 

SAN  RAFAEL  AND  MR.    COLEMAN'S  GROUNDS. 

San  Rafael  and  its  Environs. —  Floricultural  Gems. —  Chinese 
Shrimp  Fishermen. — Ex-Governor  Stanford's  Palatial  Home. — 
Mr.  Baldwin's  Model  Hotel.— Its  Interior  Appointments. .  .187-193 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  ROSES  OF   SANTA   ROSA. 

PAGE 

An  American  Saint. — A  Modern  Eden. — The  Great  Red- wood 
Trees. — The  Country  Inns  of  California. — A  Terrific  Drive. — 
Our  Driver. — A  Bridal  Party. — Acoustic  Properties  of  the 
Hotel .TTT^T. 194-202 

CHAPTER,  XXIII. 

THE   GEYSERS  AND  FOSSE  OF   FOSSEVILLE. 

A  Scene  of  Desolation. — The  Witches'  Cauldron. — Over  a  Volcano. — 
The  Indian  Vapor  Baths. — A  Sublime  View. — Poetic  Pine 
Flat. — An  Aggressive  Autocrat. — Behind  a  "Six  in  Hand." — 
The  Napa  Valley 203-212 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

LAST   DAYS   IN   SAN   FRANCISCO. 

A   Chinese   Beauty. — The   French   Quarter. — A   Lunch   with   the 

Mayor. — Peripatetic  Flower  Stands 213-217 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
A  LODGE   IN  A  VAST  WILDERNESS. 

In  the  Wake  of  Locusts. — Too  Little  Rain  and  too  Much.— Boot- 
Jack  Hollow. — A  Settlement  of  Two  Houses  and  a  Watering 
Trough. — A  Novel  Experience. — One  Bed  for  Sixteen. — An 
Impromptu  Supper. — A  Treasure  Trove. — Sleep  under  Diffi 
culties. — A  Widower  and  a  Waist. — To  the  Manner  Born. — A 
Murder  and  Arrest.— The  Merced  River. 218-231 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE   YOSEMITE   VALLEY. 

El  Capitan,  King  of  the  Valley. — Inspiration  Point. — The  South 
Dome. — The  Yosemite  Falls. — Glacier  Point. — The  Mecca  of 
the  Morning's  Pilgrimage. — A  Cleft  in  the  Plateau  of  the 
Sierras. — Avalanches  and  Slides  of  Rock. — A  Life-long  De 
light 232-241 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE  MARIPOSA  BIG  TREES. 

Big  Tree  Station.— The  Fallen  Monarch. — A  Modern  Blind  Sam 
son.— Ravages  of  Fire ; 243-246 


xiv  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

THE  QUEEN  OF  THE  ANGELS. 

The  Robbers'  Roost. — A  Spanish-looking  Town. — The  Fountain  of 
Perpetual  Youth. — Founding  of  the  Town.— A  "Live  "  Ameri 
can  City.— When  to  "  Sit "  for  a  Photograph 247-253 

CHAPTER  XXIX 
BALDWIN'S  RANCHE  OF  SANTA  ANITA. 

The  Wine  Houses. — California  Racers. — Orange  Groves. — A  Haunt 
ed  House 254-258 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

A  VERY  OLD  WOMAN  AND  A  VERY  OLD  CHURCH. 

The  Oldest  Woman  in  the  World.— Her  Proposed  Visit  to  the  Cen 
tennial. — The  Spanish  Mission. — Curious  Bells  and  Doors. — 
The  Mission  Orchards.— A  Spanish  Padre.— Tasteful  Bald 
win. — Inside  ia  Spanish  Hut. — A  Fiery  Mustang. — Peculiar 
Pets 259-269 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

SANTA  MONACA. 

An  Audacious  Seal. — Visit  to  a  Bee  Ranch. — A  Drive  around  Stock 
ton. — Sacramento  and  the  Shakes. — The  "  Tailing  "  Process. — 
From  Carson  to  Virginia  City 270-276 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

VIRGINIA   CITY  AND  THE  BIG  BONANZA. 

One  Church  versus  Forty-nine  Gambling  Saloons. — The  California 
or  Bonanza  Mine. — Extracting  the  Ore. — A  Happy  Hit. — Down 
the  Shaft.— A  Dark  Mysterious  Pit. 277-283 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

HOMEWARD  BOUND. 

Sydney  and  Detroit.— Go  West. 284-286 


STREET  IN  THE  CHINESE  QUARTER,  SAN  FRANCISCO.    Page  144. 


FROM  GOTHAM  TO  FRISCO 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE     BEGINNING. 


DOES  anybody  like  the  beginning  of  anything? 
To  our  mind  the  well-known  French  proverb 
about  the  first  step  bears  a  deeper  meaning  than  is 
usually  attributed  to  it,  and  is  intended  not  so  much 
as  an  encouragement  to  doubters  as  for  a  Hafiz-like 
warning  against  the  folly  of  ever  beginning  anything 
after  the  inevitable  annoyance  of  beginning  one's  life. 
The  beginning  of  a  dinner,  of  a  ball,  of  a  play,  of  a 
day,  of  an  acquaintance,  of  a  book,  of  a  pair  of  boots, 
does  anybody  like  any  of  these  ?  Even  the  beginning 
of  a  love,  can  it  compare  with  its  earliest  noontide? 
And  as  for  the  beginning  of  an  end,  whether  of  lives 
or  empires,  who  can  doubt  that  Ariadne's  death-blow 
fell  when  Perseus  cast  his  first  wistful  glance  towardj 
the  open  sea,  and  that  Moscow  was  a  feller  stroke  to 
the  great  Emperor  than  St.  Helena. 

So  let  us  hasten  over  the  beginning  of  our  journey 
toward  the  Golden  Gate,  artfully  promising  for  those 
who  shall  patiently  begin  and  continue  as  we  began 
and  continued,  richer  and  fairer  things  are  reserved 
in  the  end. 

Briefly,  then,  we  state  that,  passing  from  the  chilly 


18  OUR     TEMPORARY    HOME. 

gloom  of  an  April  night  of  this  present  year  of  grace 
into  the  terminus  of  the  N.  Y.  Central  R.  R,  twelve 
somewhat  wearied,  somewhat  nervous,  very  expectant 
persons,  accompanied  by  the  friends  to  whom  William 
Vanderbilt  Rex  had  issued  an  ukase  permitting  them 
to  pass  the  dismal  gates  which  ordinarily  divide, 
rigidly  as  that  of  death,  the  outward-bound  passenger 
from  those  he  loves  and  leaves,  found  prepared  for 
them  a  special  and  magnificent  car,  named  by  Mr. 
Wagner  for  the  Chief  of  our  party,  took  possession, 
went  through  the  round  of  leave-takings,  from  the 
tremulous  silent  embrace  and  last,  deep  look,  to  the 
cheery,  careless  hand  pressure  and  gay  parting  word, 
heard  the  conductor's  warning  cry  of  "  Time's  up,"  and 
were  off,  amid  the  reverberating  roar  of  the  fusilade 
arranged  by  Mr.  Wagner  as  a  parting  compliment  to 
his  friends,  and  the  hearty  cheers  of  the  escorting  party 
left  upon  the  platform. 

A  few  tears  quietly  brushed  away,  some  clearing  of 
suddenly  husky  throats,  and  the  travelers  begin  to 
look  about  them  at  the  quarters  already  representing 
home  and  home  comforts  to  wearied  minds  and  bodies. 
And  here  let  us  suggest,  that  added  inducements  to 
timid  and  conservative  tourists  could  be  held  forth  by 
changing  the  name  of  such  a  cosmos  as  this  car  of  ours 
from  "palace"  or  "drawing -room"  to  "home"  cars,  or 
some  equivalent  title,  for  who  that  has  wintered  in 
Italy  would  be  tempted  to  accept  a  palace  as  his 
perpetual  residence,  and  who  would  desire  to  sit  for  a 
week  in  a  drawing-room,  clad  in  body  and  mind  as  be 
fits  the  ceremonious  reception  of  the  world,  with  one's 


SWEET    SLEEP.  19 

mask  well  tied  on,  and  one's  skeleton  safely  locked 
away ! 

So  the  charming  little  residence  in  which  we  found 
ourselves  shall  be  called  a  home,  and  very  soon  as 
sumed  the  pleasant  aspect  suggested  by  the  word,  as 
the  bouquets,  shawls,  rugs,  sofa-cushions,  and  various 
personalities  of  the  three  ladies  of  the  party  were  de 
veloped  and  arranged  upon  or  around  a  table  in  the 
central  division  of  the  car,  which  was  to  represent  the 
general  salon,  our  end  being  partitioned  off  by  curtains 
to  serve  as  bowers  for  such  of  the  party  as  had  given 
hostages  to  society  in  the  shape  of  husband  or  wife ; 
while  the  other  end,  also  screened  by  curtains,  became 
a  pleasant  Bohemia  where  the  artists,  litterateurs  and 
photographers  of  the  party  sleep  and  work. 

Bed  seems  a  good  place  to  everybody  at  an  early 
hour  in  this  beginning  evening,  for  bed  is  one  of  the 
few  exceptions  to  the  great  rule  laid  down  in  our  first 
sentences,  and  to  a  weary  traveler  it  is  pleasanter  to  lie 
down  at  night  than  to  rise  up  in  the  morning ;  unless, 
indeed,  at  the  Yosemite,  and  that  is  not  yet. 

So  we  watch  with  interest  the  lowering  of  the  orna 
mental  panels  behind  which  are  stowed  capital  mat 
tresses,  gay  blankets,  sufficient  pillows  and  snowy 
linen,  admire  the  deft  dexterity  of  the  pleasant  official 
who,  with  these,  converts  our  sofas  into  cozy,  curtained 
couches,  and  presently  retire  to  find  within  their  shades 
the  sweet  sleep  which  never  comes  too  soon  or  stays 
too  late. 

The  conductor  has  warned  us  we  shall  find  our 
breakfast  at  Rochester  about  half  -  past  ten  in  the 


2a  NIAGARA    IN    VIEW. 

morning,  and  although  the  gay  Bohemians  at  the  other 
end  of  the  car  have  seized  an  earlier  opportunity  of 
breaking  their  fast,  we,  the  graver  portion  of  the 
party,  decorously  restrain  our  unwonted  appetites  until 
the  appointed  hour  and  place,  when  we  are  rewarded 
by  so  enjoyable  a  meal  that,  whether  it  were  the  late 
ness  of  the  hour,  the  merit  of  the  viands,  or  the 
unusual  fatigue  and  excitement  which  gave  it  zest, 
deserves  and  shall  receive  a  red-letter  mark  in  these 
annals. 

At  Rochester  our  car  is  switched  off  and  connected 
with  a  train  bound  for  Niagara,  and  presently  the  Sus 
pension  Bridge  and  mighty  Cataract  are  in  view.  Of 
course  we  pause  to  visit  the  Falls,  for  some  of  our 
party  have  never  seen  them,  and  the  rest  are  but  too 
happy  to  see  them  as  often  as  possible.  Passing 
quickly  through  the  poor  little  town,  whose  closed 
hotels  and  desolate  shops  look  forlorn  and  hopeless  in 
this  dull  season,  we  reach  the  Park,  and  presently  stand 
beside  the  mighty  mass  of  moving  waters,  whose  slow, 
resistless  sweep,  "  not  hasting  or  resting,"  calm  in  the 
magnitude  of  their  power,  relentless  as  death  to  those 
who  affront  them,  careless  as  Destiny  of  those  who  do 
not  venture  within  their  grasp,  solemn  as  eternity, 
terrible  and  beautiful  as  life ;  so  the  vast  waters  pour 
their  ceaseless  flood  century  after  century,  while  gener 
ations  of  mortals  stand  beside  them,  gaze,  wonder, 
make  their  idle  comments,  and  pass  away  to  die  and 
be  forgotten,  while  still  the  mighty  flood  sweeps  on 
and  down  changeless  and  immortal. 

It  is  finally  conceded  that  the  best  effects  of  color 


THE    INCLINED    RAILWAY.  21 

are  to  be  obtained  at  Prospect  Point,  close  beside  the 
American  Fall ;  there  one  may  admire  the  profound 
blue-green,  like  the  finest  turquoise,  of  the  deep  and 
narrow  stream ;  the  clear,  cold  beryl  tint  of  the  Fall 
itself,  and  the  snow-white  steam  and  vapor  and  spray 
lighting  up  the  whole. 

Just  to  the  right  of  the  Fall,  at  its  foot,  lay  a  great, 
rounded  hill  of  ice,  the  accumulation  of^the  "Winter's 
frozen  spray,  and  close  beside  this  hill  runs  down,  at 
an  angle  of  thirty- three  degrees,  the  steep  plane  of  the 
inclined  railway.  "We  took  passage  in  its  queer  cars, 
arranged  like  a  series  of  carpeted  stairs,  and  were 
wheeled  down  at  terrific  speed  to  a  point  where  an 
admirable  upward  view  of  the  Cataract  was  to  be 
obtained,  but  as  the  snow  still  lingering  on  the  ground 
was  of  a  melting  and  penetrating  mood,  we  did  not 
linger  long,  but,  crossing  over  the  Suspension  Bridge 
to  the  Canada  side,  the  familiar  view  of  the  Horseshoe 
Fall  came  in  sight,  and  we  looked  down  into  the  blue 
depths  of  the  channel,  two  hundred  and  four  feet  at 
this  point,  according  to  our  driver. 

Upon  the  Canada  side  it  is  quite  easy  to  distinguish 
the  voices  of  the  two  Falls — the  deep,  thunderous  roar 
of  the  Horseshoe  Fall,  and  the  more  rippling  and 
silvery  voice  of  the  American ;  and  after  one  has  passed 
the  wonder  and  excitement  of  a  first  visit  to  this  great 
marvel  of  Nature  in  listening  silently  and  alone  to  this 
vast  antiphony  of  the  two  wonderful  voices,  and  in 
contemplating  the  mighty  march  of  the  unhastening, 
unresting  flood,  now  sliding  along  a  solid  mass  of 
sapphire  waters,  just  flecked  here  and  there  with  foam, 


22  AH    IMPROVISED    REPAST. 

and  anon  hurled  into  the  abyss  below,  whence  the  voice 
of  its  torment  for  ever  ascends,  while  in  the  dense  cloud 
of  glittering  white  vapor  above,  one  may  fancy  the 
wailing  spirit  of  the  flood  to  shroud  herself  from 
mortal  gaze. 

No  wonder  that  Niagara  is,  or  should  be,  the  despair 
of  painters  :  they  may  give  its  height  and  width  and 
form,  even  its  coloring,  but  they  cannot  even  suggest 
that  slow  majesty  of  motion,  that  wonderful  harmony 
of  sound. 

Returning  to  our  Wagner  home  we  cast  fond  and 
searching  looks  toward  the  hampers  provided  for  our 
refreshment  by  attentive  friends,  and  from  them  are 
presently  produced  a  chicken,  some  ham,  beef,  and 
various  accessories ;  the  table  is  spread  and  our  artist 
dispatched  in  search  of  bread.  I  say  our  artist,  for, 

although  several  are  with  us,  H is  ours,  par 

excellence,  not  only  because  he  has  grown  up  beneath 
the  eye  of  our  Chief,  but  from  his  thoroughly 
sympathetic  nature,  combining  the  ability  of  a  man 
with  the  winning  qualities  of  a  boy;  the  enfant  gate 
of  our  office — the  enfant  terrible,  occasionally,  of  our 
party. 

The  bread  is  produced,  but  where  are  the  plates? 
Echo  answers,  where !  but  paper  is  voted  an  excellent 
substitute,  and,  at  least,  we  are  rich  in  knives  and 
forks,  for  did  not  our  Chief  himself  visit  the  Meriden 
Britannia  Co.,  on  the  day  of  our  departure,  and,  with 
his  own  hands  bear  home  the  shining  parcel,  now 
hopefully,  and  now  despairingly,  sought  for  in  bags, 
valises,  baskets,  even  in  shawl-straps  and  pockets, 


.1    WORD    OF    CAUTION.  23 

and  finally  decided  to  be  in  a  trunk  on  its  way  to 
San  Francisco. 

And  here  let  me  pause  to  say  a  word  to  my  long- 
suffering  sex  bound  upon  voyaging,  near  or  far :  do 
not  consent  to  share  bag  or  valise  with  any  man 
unless  you  wish  to  find  collars,  cuffs,  and  ruffles 
crushed  into  a  corner  beneath  a  pair  of  boots,  your 
tooth-brush  saturated  with  liquid  blacking,  and  the 
contents  of  your  powder-box  distributed  throughout 
the  whole,  ready  to  fly  out  at  any  moment,  proving 
that  even  your  complexion  is  not  a  right  that  anybody 
is  bound  to  respect! 

The  merry  pic-nic  was  just  concluded  when  the 
conductor  appeared,  loaded  with  plates,  knives,  forks, 
etc.,  and  it  was  speedily  voted  that  the  repast  already 
taken  was  but  a  lunch,  and  all  found  appetite,  after 
an  amazingly  short  interval,  for  a  dinner  fit,  as  some 
enthusiastically  declared,  for  the  Gods  on  Mount 
Olympus. 


ON  THE  ICE  UNDEB  NIAGARA  FALLS.    Page  21. 


o 


CHAPTEE  II. 

THE   TAGUS  AND  LAKE  EBIE. 

NE  would  not  wish  to  be  unpatriotic,  but  certainly 
the  approach  to  the  City  of  Toledo,  Ohio,  does  not 
compare  favorably  with  that  of  its  namesake  upon 
the  golden-sanded  Tagus.  Mile  after  mile  of  ragged 
woodland,  mile  after  mile  of  roughly  cleared  fields 
dotted  with  charred  stumps,  mile  after  mile  of  saw 
mills  and  lumber-yards,  brought  us  finally  to  the 
town,  over  which  hung  a  cloud  of  dull  brown  smoke, 
with  great  buildings  looming  out  of  it,  which  we 
were  informed  were  the  largest  grain  elevators  in  the 
United  States,  built  upon  piles  on  the  shores  of  the 
lake,  or  rather  of  the  estuary  leading  to  it. 

This  mode  of  building  seems  nearly  as  popular  in 
Toledo  as  in  Amsterdam,  and  so  large  a  portion  of  the 
environs  of  the  city  seems  wading  out  into  the  adjacent 
swamps  and  marshes  that  one  looks  for  malaria  and 
similar  evils,  as  a  matter  of  course,  but  is  informed  by 
the  inhabitants  that  their  excellent  system  of  drainage 
obviates  the  trouble  entirely.  As  we  walked  through 
the  town,  which,  although  only  about  twenty  years  old, 
boasts  55,000  inhabitants,  we  were  struck  by  the  air  of 
alertness  and  busy  prosperity  everywhere  visible,  even 
at  the  uncomfortably  early  hour  of  our  promenade,  and 
while  our  companions  noted  with  approval  the  blocks 
of  handsome  warehouses  and  shops  in  the  main  street 


THE    OFFICE    OF    THE   "TOLEDO    BLADE."  25 

we  pondered  pensively  on  the  apothegm:  "It  is  the 
early  bird  that  gets  the  worm  ";  with  its  appropriate 
retort :  "  And  serves  the  worm  right  for  being  out  at 
such  an  hour  !"  The  morning  wore  on,  however,  and 
in  due  time  we  presented  ourselves  at  the  establishment 
of  the  Toledo  Blade.  The  building  is  fine  and  imposing, 
so  also  is  its  editor-in-chief,  Dr.  Miller ;  and  after  an 
interchange  of  courtesies  and  compliments  we  were 
indulged  with  a  sight  of  that  wonderful  sword  with  its 
Toledo  blade,  presented  by  his  Supreme  and  Royal 
Highness,  King  Alfonso,  of  Spain,  through  his  Royal 
Commissioners  to  the  Centennial  Exposition,  to  the 
representative  journal  of  America,  all  of  which 
information  and  much  more,  we  found  inscribed  in 
stately  and  graceful  periods  of  the  purest  Castilian  in 
the  testimonial  accompanying  the  sword,  which  was 
ceremoniously  unfolded  from  a  gorgeous  Spanish  flag 
whose  brilliant  red  and  yellow  seemed  gairish  and 
tawdry  within-doors,  although  so  rich  and  imposing 
whon  draped  above  a  balcony  filled  with  dark-eyed 
Senoritas,  and  waved  by  the  perfume-laden  breezes  of 
its  native  land. 

The  sword  itself  seems  in  size  and  weight  better 
fitted  for  the  hand  of  Orlando,  or  Charlemagne,  or 
Coaur  de  Lion,  than  any  less  stalwart  champion,  but 
the  hilt  was  magnificently  incrusted  with  gold  and 
silver,  and  the  blade  was  proved  to  possess  the  mar 
velous  suppleness  and  tenacity  traditionally  belong 
ing  to  its  family,  and  although  we  insisted  that 
Dr.  Miller  should  not  run  the  remotest  chance  of 
accident  by  putting  it  to  the  test  of  bending  the  tip  to 


26  FIRST   IMPRESSIONS    OF   PRAIRIE. 

touch  the  hilt,  we  are  firm  in  the  faith  that  it  could 
have  been  triumphantly  achieved. 

Leaving  Toledo  at  one  o'clock,  we  sped  into  Indiana 
and  gained  our  first  impression  of  prairie,  or,  as 
Westerners  like  to  call  it,  per-air-ry,  country,  and,  while 
here,  record  a  conclusion  arrived  at  after  seeing 
whatever  lies  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  that  the 
prairie,  like  the  Bed  man,  requires  to  be  seen  in  a  state 
of  savage  nature  to  be  at  all  interesting,  and  that 
neither  is  to  be  thus  seen  without  considerable  risk  of 
life  to  the  spectator.  Cultivated  Indians  are  loathsome, 
cultivated  prairies  are  stupid ;  and  the  scenery  of 
northern  Indiana  is  cultivated  prairie.  We  dined  at 
Elkhart,  and  found  a  bit  of  an  oasis  in  the  shape  of 
a  host,  whose  cultivation  and  refinement  pleasantly 
prepared  us  for  an  interview  with  his  wife,  whose 
appearance  and  manners  would  have  graced  any  Fifth 
Avenue  drawing-room.  She  kindly  invited  us  into  her 
private  apartments,  which  proved  models  of  taste  and 
elegance,  although  the  house  itself  was  neither  better 
nor  worse  than  the  average  Western  railway  refectory, 
The  table  was  served  by  young  women,  and  among 
them  one  of  so  striking  and  Juno-like  an  aspect  that 
"  our  artist "  sacrificed  his  dinner  to  the  pleasure  of 
sketching  her,  while  she  willingly  abandoned  her 
usual  duties  to  serve  as  model. 

Toward  night,  we  catch  a  glimpse  of  Lake  Michigan 
and  its  foam-crested  waves  dashing  against  the  stone 
wall  which  restrains  their  incursions  upon  the  city,  and 
could  fancy  that  we  saw  the  broad  Atlantic  stretching 
before  us,  instead  of  merely  an  inland  lake.  And  now 


CHICAGO    EXPLORED.  27 

we  are  in  Chicago,  and  at  the  Grand  Pacific  Hotel, 
and,  after  eagerly  devoting  a  few  minutes  to  a  basin 
of  fair  water,  which  none  but  travelers  can  appreciate, 
assemble  in  the  supper-room,  a  superb  hall — light, 
bright,  and  marvelous  in  frescoing  and  gilding.  As  for 
the  meal  itself,  a  week  of  such  sumptuous  fare  would 
be  enough  to  derange  one's  digestion"  for  life. 

Tired  Nature's  sweet  restorer  was  sought  with 
wonderful  unanimity  at  an  early  hour,  and  the  next 
morning,  having  breakfasted  as  admirably  as  we  had 
supped,  we  made  ready  to  explore  the  wonders  of 
Chicago  ;  for,  like  most  other  Americans,  we  knew  less 
of  our  own  country  than  of  many  others,  and  we 
determined  to  correct  our  ignorance  without  delay. 

We  found  the  fashionable  avenues,  Wabash,  Calmut, 
Prairie  and  Michigan,  wide,  straight,  and  interesting  as 
drives,  from  the  number  and  diversity  of  handsome 
private  dwellings,  generally  detached,  and  built  in  all 
varieties  of  styles .  and  ornamentation  ;  even  the  frame 
buildings  are  costly  and  ornate,  and  the  brick  richly 
decorated  with  brown-stone  copings  and  carvings.  A 
favorite  material,  also,  is  a  soft,  creamy,  yellow  stone, 
similar  to  that  so  popular  in  Paris,  and,  possibly,  the 
association,  recalling  the  good-natured  satire  that  good 
Chicagoeans,  when  they  die,  go  to  Paris,  may  have 
added  to  the  pleasing  effect. 

The  wooden  pavements  of  the  streets,  although 
smoother  to  drive  upon  than  stone,  are  the  cause  of  a 
great  deal  of  dust;  and  there  still  exists  a  difference 
of  opinion  between  street  and  sidewalk,  as  to  level, 
necessitating  a  system  of  steps,  descending  from  the 


28  MR.  PULLMAN'S    PALATIAL    HOME. 

latter  to  the  former,  a  little  startling  to  evening 
promenaders.  This,  however,  is  in  course  of  alteration, 
as  the  entire  level  of  the  city  is  being  raised  several 
feet  since  the  fire,  and  a  great  many  streets  of  fine 
warehouses  and  shops  have  been  erected  on  the  new 
basis. 

There  are  very  few  trees,  except  along  Dearborne 
Street,  and  the  northerly  part  of  Michigan  Avenue, 
where  the  great  fire  did  not  reach,  and  where  the 
houses  are  nearly  all  of  wood  and  detached.  On  Prairie 
Avenue  we  were  shown  a  stately  and  magnificent 
mansion  of  brown-stone,  standing  in  the  midsfc  of 
spacious  grounds,  and  fronting  on  the  avenue  from  the 
lake.  Our  driver  informed  us  that  "  Mr.  Pullman  was 
five  years  a-building  it,"  and  we  gratefully  hoped  that 
the  aggregate  comfort  conferred  on  the  traveling  public 
during  those  five  years,  by  hotel  and  palace  cars,  had 
been  built  and  cemented  in  those  brown-stone  walls. 
The  piercing  wind  from  the  lake,  which  is  at  once  a 
blessing  and  a  nuisance  to  Chicago,  tempering  the  heat 
in  mid-summer,  but  a  little  disagreeable  in  April, 
especially  when  laden  with  clouds  of  dust,  made  us 
glad  to  turn  our  backs  and  return  to  the  more  sheltered 
portions  of  the  city.  State  Street  reminded  us  of 
Broadway,  although  with  more  uniformly  fine  and 
solid  blocks  of  buildings,  nearly  all  of  yellow  brown- 
stone.  Clark  Street  is  its  rival ;  property-holders  in 
each  street  vieing  with  each  other  since  the  fire,  in  the 
attempt  to  make  their  own  street  the  centre  of 
importance.  The  same  rivalry  exists  between  the 
avenues  of  private  residences,  and  from  this  laudable 


THE   STEWARTS    OF    CHICAGO.  29 

ambition,  probably,  arises  the  reported  fact  that  every 
rich  man  in  Chicago  is  involved  in  debt. 

In  State  Street  we  paused  at  the  Corn  Exchange,  a 
fine  building,  per  se,  but  evidently  seldom  profaned  by 
the  use  of  the  scrubbing-brush  or  broom.  The  sales 
for  the  day  were  just  over,  and  the  brokers  and  dealers 
swarming  out  of  the  door,  and  in  the  lobbies,  with  the 
noise  and  hilarity  of  schoolboys  just  released  from 
their  lessons.  We  went  into  the  hall  where  the  sales 
are  made — a  fine,  large  chamber,  with  a  clicking  of 
telegraphic  machines  on  every  side,  and  piles  of  corn, 
torn  papers  and  rubbish,  inches  high  in  places.  From 
a  careful  study  of  the  bulletins  posted  on  tall,  black 
frames,  here  and  there,  we  gathered  that  "  Liverpool 
wheat  was  dejected,  and  corn  stiff,"  and  in  unsympa 
thetic  glee  took  our  leave  of  the  Corn  Exchange,  and 
went  our  way  to  Feild,  Leiter  &  Co.,  the  Stewarts  of 
Chicago.  We  found  a  large,  but  not  imposing  estab 
lishment,  presenting  rather  an  excess  of  thread  and 
needle  and  small  ware  counters,  but  having  a  novel 
and  excellent  system  of  checks.  The  first  salesman  of 
whom  one-  makes  a  purchase,  noting  it  upon  a  blank 
memorandum  which  the  buyer  takes  to  the  next 
counter,  has  the  purchase  recorded,  and  so  on,  until 
payment  of  the  whole  is  made  at  the  last  counter; 
thus  saving  much  time,  noisy  shouting  of  "Cash!" 
and  the  annoyance  of  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  er 
ratic  imps  generally  answering  to  that  cognomen. 

Our  next  visit  was  to  the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts, 
which  we  found  up-stairs  in  a  big  stone  building, 
devoted,  as  it  seemed,  to  almost  everything  else  under 


30  ACADEMY    OF   FINE    ARTS. 

the  sun,  and  satisfied  to  squeeze  the  Fine  Arts  away  in  a 
corner  as  an  after- thought.  The  establishment  is  rather 
languishing,  as  its  patrons,  a  few  of  the  wealthy  men 
of  Chicago,  have  lately  felt  unable  to  do  very  much  for 
its  support,  and  we  all  know  that  the  higher  and  more 
esthetic  needs  of  human  nature  are  the  first  to  be 
pinched  by  a  deficiency  in  the  supplies. 

The  Academy  possesses  but  two  rooms,  in  which 
students  in  oils,  water-colors,  crayons,  still-life  and 
portraits  are  jumbled  promiscuously  together.  There 
is  no  life-school  proper,  although  a  few  were  drawing 
and  painting  from  the  model — only  the  head,  how 
ever — and  most  of  the  drawing  is  from  the  flat. 

From  these  rooms  we  visited  a  few  studios,  finding 
the  majority  of  them  not  much  in  advance  of  the 
Academy.  In  one,  however,  we  encountered  a  lady 
whose  olive-tinted  skin  and  dark  eyes  proclaimed  her 
of  the  Latin  race.  She  was  working  industriously  at  a 
pastel  head  of  a  beautiful  young  girl,  and  with  the 
vigorous  and  rapid  touch  of  a  sure  and  experienced 
artist.  The  imperfect  English  and  marked  coldness  of 
the  few  words  our  remarks  elicited  induced  us  to 
address  her  in  Italian,  and  the  advance  was  met  by  a 
vivid  upward  flash  of  the  dark  eyes,  that  wonderful 
brightening  of  the  skin  so  much  more  striking  in  an 
olive  complexion  than  the  pink  blush  of  the  Saxon,  and 
the  breathless  reply :  "  No,  I  am  Parisian  ;  perhaps 
Madame  speaks  French  ?"  We  replied  in  the  affirma 
tive,  and  then  came  such  a  torrent  of  words  instead  of 
the  icy  monosyllables  of  the  first  few  moments,  and  in 
five  minutes  we  listened  to  a  dissertation  on  Art  in 


A    TWELVE -YEAR -OLD    ARTIST.  31 

Chicago,  Art  in  Paris,  Art  all  over  the  world,  in  fact ; 
and  then  a  brief  outline  of  the  artist's  own  personal 
history,  a  delicate  probing  of  our  own,  and  finally  such 
handshakings,  such  tender  adieux,  and  such  reluctance 
to  part  company  at  the  ultimate  confines  of  the 
Academy  of  Fine  Arts,  that  one  felt,  with  a  pitying 
sympathy,  how  starved  the  poor  exiled^  soul  must  have 
become  in  its  expatriation,  when  the  accents  of  its 
native  tongue,  even  from  stranger's  lips,  could  raise 
such  a  whirlwind  of  excitement  and  delight. 

Next  we  visited  another  studio,  also  that  of  a  lady, 
but  this  time  a  landscape-painter ;  the  artist  herself 
was  absent,  but  the  honors  were  done  by  the  quaintest 
little  object  in  life,  whom  we  found  encased  in  an 
immense  pinafore,  perched  upon  a  high  stool  and 
working  away  for  dear  life  upon  a  brilliantly  colored 
picture.  He  announced  himself  as  twelve  years  old, 
although  that  number  of  years  seemed  altogether  too 
liberal  an  allowance,  and  stated  that  the  spirit  of  an 
artist  burned  in  his  bosom,  and  he  was  one  of  Madame's 
pupils.  His  idea  of  art  seemed  to  be  the  getting  over 
the  largest  amount  possible  of  canvas  in  the  least 
possible  time,  and  his  faith  in  his  preceptress  in  this 
line  was  unbounded.  After  a  brief  inspection  of  the 
other  treasures  of  the  studio,  we  took  leave  of  our 
Michael  Angelo  in  embryo,  wishing  him,  a  little  sadly, 
the  realization  of  all  his  brilliant  dreams.  He 
responded  confidently,  and  we  left  him  scrambling  up 
to  his  perch  again,  to  resume  work  upon  the  big,  bright 
picture. 

The  next  afternoon  we  started  for  a  survey  of  the 


32  CHICAGO'S    WATER     WORKS. 

north  end  of  the  city,  Dearborn  Avenue,  the  Water 
Works,  and  Lincoln  Park.  The  Water  Works  are  new 
and  beautiful,  and  eccentric  in  architecture,  like  most 
of  the  town,  and  with  a  wild  excess  of  tower  and  but 
tress  and  queer  little  points  and  pinnacles  everywhere, 
cheerfully  relieving  the  solemn  gray  of  the  rough- 
hewn  granite  blocks  of  the  main  edifice.  From  this 
point  we  drove  along  the  lake  shore  upon  a  road  arti 
ficially  filled  in  upon  swamp  land.  The  lake  itself 
wore  a  sombre  hue,  yellowish-gray  in  color,  and  rather 
tea-like  in  effect,  but  the  waves  dashed  in  very 
respectable  surf  upon  the  sea-wall  and  the  little  jetties 
thrown  out  here  and  there. 

It  was  Sunday  afternoon,  and  the  respectable  bour 
geoisie  and  family  men  of  Chicago  were  out  with  wives 
and  olive-branches,  in  wagons  of  every  pattern  and 
degree,  in  spite  of  the  piercing  wind  and  blinding  dust. 
The  more  aristocratic  part  of  the  population  was  not 
visible,  and  one  wondered  whether  the  New  England 
element  in  Chicago  is  strong  enough  to  render  Sunday 
driving  unpopular,  or  whether  the  elite  preferred 
staying  at  home  to  dream  of  the  Champs  Elysees. 

The  Shore  Road  led  us  into  the  Park,  just  now  in 
the  same  embryotic  condition  New  Yorkers  can  recall 
as  prevalent  some  dozen  years  ago  in  Central  Park,  and 
let  us  hope  as  glorious  a  result  is  in  store  for  the 
former  as  well  as  the  latter  creation.  There  is  the 
beginning  here  of  a  zoological  collection,  already  quite 
rich  in  birds. 

On  our  way  home  we  saw  the  large  frame  house 
which,  oddly  enough,  was  the  only  one  left  standing  in 


THE  THOUSAND  MILE  TREE.' 


CHICAGO    A    THING    Of    PROMISE.  33 

that  district,  while  the  flames  destroyed  everything 
about  it.  We  saw  also  the  Roman  Catholic  Cathedral, 
a  superb  white  marble  building,  with  the  padded  doors 
so  common  on  the  European  continent. 

Belies  of  the  fire  meet  one  at  every  turn ;  lots  piled 
up  with  blackened  brick  and  stone  and  dismal  rubbish, 
and  sometimes  the  picturesque  shell  of  a  ruin.  We 
were  shown  the  small  block  of  dwelling-houses  used 
as  a  hotel  after  the  fire,  when  every  hotel  in  Chicago 
was  burned. 

Aldene  Square,  probably  called  square  because  it  is 
round,  is  a  charming  little  park,  containing  drives,  trees, 
flowers,  fountains,  etc.,  and  nearly  surrounded  by  a 
series  of  houses,  various  in  size  and  construction,  but 
of  equal  elegance,  and  all  built  by  a  single  man. 

To  sum  up  the  impression  produced  by  a  careful 
study  of  Chicago,  it  is  a  city  of  magnificent  beginnings, 
a  thing  of  promise.  Few  American  cities  can  boast  so 
many  noticeably  handsome  dwellings,  or  such  massive 
blocks  of  stone  along  the  business  streets,  but  the 
crudity  of  youth  is  as  inextricably  mingled  with  the 
promise  of  maturity  as  in  a  big-boned  boy  of  eighteen, 
or  a  blushing  girl  of  thirteen,  from  whom  one  parts 
with  resignation  for  a  time,  looking  pleasurably  forward 
to  renewed  intercourse  a  few  years  later. 

We  remarked,  that  physicians'  names,  instead  of 
appearing  on  the  door-plates,  as  with  us,  were  lettered 
in  black  or  gold  on  the  glass  light  above  the  front 
door,  and  along  with  the  number,  a  great  facility,  one 
would  imagine,  for  those  seeking  medical  services 
after  nightfall,  but,  per  contra,  the  names  of  streets 


34  THE    GRAND    PACIFIC    HOTEL. 

are  mysteriously  printed  just  above,  instead  of  upon, 
the  glass  of  the  gas-lights. 

We  sit  down  to  our  last  meal  at  the  Grand  Pacific 
Hotel,  cast  a  final  admiring  glance  at  its  cheerful 
parlors,  wide  corridors,  superb  dining-hall,  murmur  a 
grateful  acknowledgment  of  the  faultless  cuisine  and  per 
fect  system  of  attendance,  which  render  this  hotel  one  of 
the  most  comfortable  houses  in  the  country,  and  then, 
not  without  a  certain  excitement,  prepare  to  resume  our 
journey,  now  about  to  develop  more  characteristic 
features,  since  where  breathes  the  man  who  has  not 
been  in  Chicago  ?  while  only  a  select  few  of  the  sons  of 
Adam  have  personally  compared  the  crisp  waves  of 
the  Atlantic  with  the  grander  and  more  rhythmic  swell 
of  the  Pacific. 


GRAND  PACIFIC  HOTEL,  CHICAGO. 


CHAPTER  HI. 

HOTEL    CABS    VerSUS    EMIGRANT     TRAINS. 

ON  arriving  at  the  station,  we  find  that  we  have 
exchanged  our  beloved  Wagner  Home  for  the 
famous  Pullman  Hotel  Car,  exhibited  at  the  Centennial 
Exposition,  and  built  at  a  cost  of  $35,000.  We  are 
greeted  on  entering,  by  two  superb  pyramids  of  flowers, 
one  from  Mr.  Potter  Palmer,  and  the  other  with  com 
pliments  of  the  Pullman  Car  Co. ;  then  new  -  found 
Chicago  friends  arrive  in  rapid  succession,  to  wish  us 
God-speed,  and,  in  the  midst  of  a  cheerful  bustle  and 
excitement,  we  are  off,  and  able  to  look  about  us  at  our 
new  home.  First,  we  are  impressed  with  the  smooth 
and  delightful  motion,  and  are  told  it  is  owing  to  a  new 
invention,  in  the  shape  of  paper  wheels  applied  to  this 
car,  and  incredible  though  the  information  sounds, 
meekly  accept  it,  and  proceed  to  explore  the  internal 
resources  of  our  kingdom.  We  find  everything  closely 
resembling  our  late  home,  except  that  one  end  of  the 
car  is  partitioned  off  and  fitted  up  as  a  kitchen,  store 
room,  scullery — reminding  one,  in  their  compactness 
and  variety,  of  the  little  Parisian  cuisines,  where  every 
inch  of  space  is  utilized,  and  where  such  a  modicum  of 
wood  and  charcoal  produces  such  marvelous  results. 
Our  chef,  of  ebon  color,  and  proportions  suggesting 
a  liberal  sampling  of  the  good  things  he  prepares,  wears 
the  regulation  snow-white  apron  and  cap,  and  gives  us 


36  A  DELMONICAN   REPAST. 

cordial  welcome  and  information ;  showing  us,  among 
other  things,  that  his  refrigerator  and  larder  are  boxes 
adroitly  arranged  beneath  the  car,  secured  by  lock  and 
key,  and  accessible  at  every  station.  At  six  the  tables 
are  laid  for  two  each,  with  dainty  linen,  and  the  finest 
of  glass  and  china,  and  we  presently  sit  down  to  dinner. 
Our  repast  is  Delmonican  in  its  nature  and  style,  con 
sisting  of  soup,  fish,  entrees,  roast  meat  and  vegetables, 
followed  by  the  conventional  dessert  and  the  essential 
spoonful  of  black  coffee. 

We  are  not  a  late  party  that  night,  retiring  at  ten, 
and  in  the  morning  are  startled  by  an  announcement 
from  the  "  Sultana,"  a  tall,  willowy  woman,  with  dark, 
almond-shaped  eyes,  who  affects  brilliant  tints,  and 
lounges  among  her  cushions  and  wraps  of  crimson  and 
gold,  with  a  grace  peculiarly  her  own,  and  with  a  luxu 
riance  so  Eastern,  as  to  have  won  for  her  the  sobriquet 
of  Sultana.  We  are  startled  by  the  announcement  that 
her  rest  had  been  disturbed  by  the  howling  of  wolves  I 
The  young  lady  who  does  the  romantic  for  our  party 
turns  pale  with  envy,  especially  when  the  brakeman, 
appealed  to  as  authority,  admits  that  there  is  a  small 
coyote  wolf  about  the  prairies,  even  so  far  East,  which 
might  possibly  have  been  heard.  All  day,  until  sunset, 
we  sweep  along  over  rolling  prairie  lands  of  a  rich, 
tawny  yellow,  with  here  and  there  a  tiny  town,  and 
here  and  there  a  lonely  settler's  cabin,  with  a  little 
winding  footpath  stretching  up  to  it. 

At  Dixon,  the  train  stopped  for  the  passengers* 
supper,  and  we  stole  away  for  a  little  exercise  and 
solitude.  A  storm  was  imminent,  the  distant  thunder 


POETIC   FANCIES.  G7 

muttered  ominously,  the  lightning  came  in  pulses,  and 
from  the  far,  dusky  reaches  of  the  prairie,  blew  a  wind 
stronger  and  freer,  yet  softer,  than  other  winds,  with  a 
fragrance  sweeter  than  flowers  on  its  breath.  Some 
strange,  wild  influence  in  the  scene  sent  a  new  sensa 
tion  tingling  through  one's  blood.  All  sorts  of  poetic 
fancies  and  inspirations  seemed  hovering  close  above 
one's  head,  when  a  dash  of  rain  recalled  the  realism  oi 
life,  and  sent  us  hastening  back  to  the  car,  where  all 
the  lamps  were  lighted  and  the  tables  laid  for  dinner. 

"What  a  dismal  scene!"  exclaimed  some  one,  look 
ing  out  of  the  window. 

"  We  are  very  fortunate  to  be  snugly  ensconced,  with 
plenty  of  lights  and  dinner  in  prospect,"  replied  the 
Sultana,  drawing  her  cashmere  about  her  shoulders. 

By  breakfast-time  the  scenery  had  changed,  the 
rolling  prairie  giving  place  to  a  succession  of  low 
bluffs — steep,  hilly,  brown,  and  infinitely  wild;  then 
came  a  quiet  little  lake,  dotted  over  with  wild  ducks ; 
more  hills  growing  green  in  the  hollows ;  swamp- 
willows  budding  redly ;  herds  of  grazing  cattle  and 
wild,  shaggy  horses  ;  until,  at  last,  we  roll  into  a  long, 
flat,  straggling  town,  and  are  told  it  is  Council  Bluffs. 

"  And  why  Council  Bluffs  ?"  we  suavely  inquire  of 
the  wise  man  who  gives  us  this  information. 

"Because,  on  these  bluffs  the  Indians  assembled 
in  council  ;  also  because,  beneath  the  shadow  of 
the  Bluffs  in  1853,  a  little  company  of  enterprising 
spirits  held  a  council  as  to  the  propriety  of  building 
the  City  of  Omaha,  upon  the  opposite  shores  of  the 
Missouri;  also  because  the  Conductor  counsels  us  to 


38  THE    CITY    OF    OMAHA. 

re-enter  the  car,  as  the  train  is  about  to  start ; 
also " 

"  Enough !  enough !  your  last  reason  is  conclusive." 
And  a  few  minutes  later  we  are  rolling  over  the  mag 
nificent  bridge,  said  to  be  one  of  the  finest  in  the 
world,  and  almost  a  thousand  feet  in  length.  The 
stream  —  weak  coffee  as  to  complexion,  pea  -  soup  as 
to  consistence  —  rolls  sluggishly  between  its  iron 
piers.  As  for  the  bridge  itself,  its  cost,  its  construction, 
its  ingenuity,  is  it  not  written  in  all  the  guide-books,  all 
the  travels,  all  the  diaries  of  all  the  voyageurs  ?  and  to 
these  various  sources  the  statistical  reader  is  referred 
for  information. 

Arrived  in  Omaha,  the  true  beginning,  perhaps,  of  our 
California  trip,  we  took  a  carriage,  and  set  forth  to  view 
the  town.  We  found  it  big,  lazy,  and  apathetic;  the 
streets  dirty  and  ill-paved;  the  clocks  without  hands 
to  point  out  the  useless  time ;  the  shops,  whose  signs 
mostly  bore  German  names,  deserted  of  customers, 
while  principals  and  clerks  lounged  together  in  the 
doorways,  listless  and  idle.  This  depressing  state 
of  affairs  is,  presumably,  temporary,  for  we  were  told 
that,  two  years  ago,  Omaha  was  one  of  the  most 
thriving  and  busy  cities  of  the  West,  claiming  for 
itself,  indeed,  a  place  as  first  commercial  emporium 
of  that  vast  section ;  and,  certainly,  its  position  at  the 
terminus  of  the  three  great  Eastern  roads,  and  the 
beginning  of  the  one  great  Western  one,  would  naturally 
entitle  it  to  that  pre-eminence,  when  aided  by  the  en 
terprise  and  the  dollars  of  such  men  as  have,  in  twenty 
years,  built  a  great  city  from  a  wayside  settlement. 


MOTLEY  GROUPS    OF  PEOPLE.  39 

Doubtless,  when  the  hard  times,  which  seem  to  affect 
everybody  and  everything,  from  the  baby's  Christmas 
toys  to  the  statesman's  visions  of  international  com 
merce,  are  over,  Omaha  will  shake  off  the  lethargy 
depressing  her  at  present,  and  rise  to  the  position  her 
citizens  fondly  claim  for  her.  We  saw  some  tasteful 
private  residences,  with  conservatories  and  stables ;  the 
High  School  building,  which  might  justly  be  called  a 
palace  of  learning ;  the  military  headquarters,  and  bar 
racks  of  the  armory  of  the  State ;  the  Grand  Central 
Hotel,  a  large  and  imposing  edifice,  admirably  con 
ducted  ;  and  also  the  less  imposing,  but  more  remark 
able  house  erected  by  the  brilliant  and  erratic  George 
Francis  Train,  who,  arriving  at  Omaha  one  day,  was 
told  there  was  no  accommodation  to  be  had  for  his 
party. 

"No  rooms  to  be  had!"  exclaimed  he.  "Then  I'll 
build  me  a  hotel!" — and  he  did,  within  six  weeks. 

Keturning  to  the  station,  we  found  the  platform 
crowded  with  the  strangest  and  most  motley  groups  of 
people  it  has  ever  been  our  fortune  to  encounter.  Men 
in  alligator  boots,  and  loose  overcoats  made  of  blankets 
and  wagon  rugs,  with  wild,  unkempt  hair  and  beards, 
and  bright,  resolute  eyes,  almost  all  well-looking,  but 
wild  and  strange  as  denizens  of  another  world. 

The  women  looked  tired  and  sad,  almost  all  of  them, 
and  were  queerly  dressed,  in  gowns  that  must  have  been 
old  on  their  grandmothers,  and  with  handkerchiefs 
tied  over  their  heads  in  place  of  hats ;  the  children 
were  bundled  up  anyhow,  in  garments  of  nondescript 
purpose  and  size,  but  were  generally  chubby,  neat 


40  A    PARTY  OF  EMIGRANTS. 

and  gay,  as  they  frolicked  in  and  out  among  the  boxes, 
baskets,  bundles,  bedding,  babies'-chairs,  etc.,  piled 
waist  high  on  various  parts  of  the  platform.  Mingling 
with  them,  and  making  some  inquiries,  we  found  that 
these  were  emigrants,  bound  for  the  Black  Hills,  by 
rail  to  Cheyenne  and  Sioux  City,  and  after  that  by 
wagon  trains.  A  family  of  French  attracted  attention 
by  the  air  of  innate  refinement  and  fitness  which  seems 
to  attach  to  every  grade  of  society  in  la  belle  France, 
and  we  chatted  with  them  for  some  moments.  A  great 
many  families  claimed  German  nationality,  and  Ireland, 
England  and  Scotland  were  represented,  as  well  as  our 
own  country.  One  bright  little  creature  —  perhaps 
three  years  of  age — was  quite  insulted  at  being  called 
a  baby,  and  exclaimed,  indignantly  : 

"  No,  no,  me  not  baby !" 

"  What  are  you,  then?  A  young  lady?"  we  inquired. 

"  No,  me  'ittle  woman.  Me  helps  mammy  sweep," 
replied  the  mite ;  and  apologizing  for  our  blunder,  we 
handed  her  some  silver  for  candy,  which  she  accepted 
with  alacrity  ;  and  as  we  watched  her  setting  off  on  her 
shopping  expedition,  a  neat,  pretty  old  lady,  perched 
upon  a  big  bundle,  said,  with  much  conscious  pride : 

"That's  my  grandchild,  ma'am." 

"We  congratulated  her,  and  passed  on,  to  visit  the 
emigrant  lodging-house  and  outfitting-shop  adjoining 
the  station.  The  shop,  although  large,  was  crowded, 
and  the  air  insufferably  close ;  long  counters  ran  across 
the  room,  and  upon  them,  and  upon  lines  stretched 
above,  lay  or  hung,  every  variety  of  equipment  desirable 
for  pioneer  life — clothes,  blankets,  mats,  tins,  hats, 


A    HOMELY   DINNER.  41 

shoes,  babies'  rattles,  impartially  mixed  and  exhibited, 
while  some  attention  to  the  aesthetic  needs  of  humanity 
was  shown,  in  various  stuffed  heads  of  moose  and 
deer,  with  quails  perched  upon  their  antlers. 

In  the  eating-room  we  "  assisted,"  by  inspection,  at 
a  good,  substantial,  homely  dinner,  neatly  served  at 
twenty-five  cents  a  plate,  and  a  placard  informed  the 
guests  that  children  occupying  seats  at  table  would 
be  charged  full  price;  a  precautionary  measure  not 
unreasonable,  as  it  seemed  to  us,  in  view  of  the  swarms 
of  innocents  who  had  certainly  never  encountered  a 
Herod! 

Lodging  is  the  same  price  as  dinner,  and  the  super 
intendent  of  this  part  of  the  house  triumphantly 
informed  us  that  the  sheets  were  changed  every 
night. 


ON  THE  INCLINED  RAILWAY  TO  THE  FOOT  OF  NIAGARA  FALLS.    Page  21. 


CHAPTEE  IV. 

THE    UNMENTIONABLE    PLACE. 

AFTER  passing  North  Bend,  we  came  upon  an  In 
dian  camp  belonging  to  a  portion  of  the  Omahaw 
tribe.  The  lodges  —  five  or  six  in  number  —  were  of 
white  skin,  and  picturesque  in  shape :  their  occupants 
gathered  around  a  small  camp-fire — the  men,  tall, 
straight,  dark  and  dignified,  wrapped  in  toga-like 
blankets ;  the  women,  dirty  and  degraded,  with  their 
pappooses  bundled  on  their  backs,  the  queer,  little 
dark  faces  peeping  out  like  prairie  dogs  from  their  bur 
rows.  Farther  on  we  met  a  second  band — half  a  dozen 
men  on  horseback — carrying  their  lodges  bundled  up 
and  driving  a  little  herd  of  shaggy  Indian  ponies.  It 
was  a  wonderfully  new  picture  for  us,  the  great  plains 
rolling  away  on  either  side  in  apparently  illimitable 
extent,  clad  in  their  richest  shades  of  russet  and  tawny 
gold  in  the  distance,  and  the  tender  grass  and  moist 
black  earth  close  at  hand,  a  wild  mass  of  thunder 
clouds  crowding  up  from  the  south,  and  the  low-hanging 
trail  of  smoke  from  our  engine  sweeping  away  north 
ward  like  a  troop  of  spirits,  and  this  little,  lonely  band 
of  Omahaws  riding  slowly  away  into  the  storm,  casting 
uneasy  glances  backward  at  the  flying  train.  A  second 
picture  to  place  beside  that  of  Niagara  in  memory's 
gallery,  a  second  proof  that  the  foremost  of  human 


AN    EARLY  AWAKENING.  43 

artists  is,  after  all,  but  the  feeblest  copyist  of  the 
Artist  whose  name  is  Wonderful. 

The  old  emigrant  trail  here  runs  southward  beside 
the  track,  and  we  had  the  luck  to  pass  two  real  emi 
grant  wagons  :  one,  white-topped  and  rather  neat-look 
ing,  had  halted  for  the  night,  with  the  horses  picketed 
out  to  graze,  and  the  camp-fire  lighted;  while  the 
other,  dark,  weather-beaten  and  forlorn,  was  doggedly 
making  its  way  forward. 

Our  train  stopped  for  supper  at  Grand  Island,  a 
considerable  place,  and,  like  most  Western  places,  con 
fidently  expecting  to  be  larger  when  the  time  arrived. 
We  dismounted  to  look  at  our  first  specimens  of  buffalo 
grass,  a  short,  dry,  tufted  herbage,  said  to  be  the 
especial  dainty  of  not  only  buffalo,  but  of  all  grazing 
creatures,  who  leave  all  other  food  for  it,  and  unhesi 
tatingly  as  a  gourmand  accepts  fresh  truffles.  In  front 
of  the  station  was  a  little  inclosure  with  a  most 
spasmodic  fountain,  beside  which  we  lingered  for  some 
moments  and  then  returned  with  alacrity  to  our  Pull 
man  Home. 

Very  early  in  the  next  morning  we  were  awakened 
by  the  stopping  of  the  train,  for  the  gentle  and  constant 
motion  had  already  become  as  essential  to  our  repose 
as  that  of  his  ship  to  the  sailor.  The  conductor 
presently  appeared  to  warn  us  that  the  detention  was 
likely  to  be  one  of  several  hours,  as  an  accident  had 
happened  to  the  freight  train  some  five  miles  in  ad 
vance,  and  the  track  was  both  encumbered  and  injured. 
The  prospect  was  not  cheering,  as  the  rain  fell  in 
torrents,  and  the  prairie,  sodden  and  gray  in  the  chill 


44  DELAYED    BY    AN   ACCIDENT. 

morning  light,  had  lost  all  the  beauty  of  its  sunset  garb, 
presenting  one  flat,  dull  expanse,  innocent  of  house, 
tree,  shrub,  moving  creature,  or  any  point  of  interest 
— a  perfect  picture  of  desolation. 

The  several  hours  of  the  conductor  extended  to  eight, 
and  required  all  the  attractive  powers  of  the  Sultana, 
all  the  condensed  result  of  her  husband's  journalistic 
and  statistical  studies,  all  the  young  lady's  romantic 
fervor  about  the  plains,  and  all  the  fun  of  the  Bohe 
mians,  to  fill  them  pleasantly.  However,  "  All  things 
come  round  to  him  who  will  but  wait,"  and  to  us  came 
at  last  the  delightful  jerk  of  the  train,  as  the  iron  horse 
straightened  his  traces  and,  with  a  shriek  of  exultation, 
started  again  upon  his  journey. 

Arrived  at  the  scene  of  disaster,  we  could  not 
wonder  at  the  length  of  the  detention,  for  a  herd  of  cattle, 
attempting  to  try  conclusions  with  a  steam  engine,  had 
been  forced  to  retreat,  leaving  six  of  their  number  on 
the  field  of  battle;  and  so  inextricably  had  the  poor 
creatures  become  wedged  in  the  complicated  machinery 
of  the  locomotive,  that  it  was  hard  to  decide  where  the 
one  ended  and  where  the  other  began,  or  which  had 
suffered  most  in  the  encounter.  The  cars  lay  scattered 
along  the  track,  all  more  or  less  wrecked,  and  the  engine, 
completely  dislodged  from  the  rails,  lay  beside  them,  a 
mass  of  ruin.  During  our  long  delay  a  wrecker  train 
had  been  engaged  in  laying  a  new  section  of  track,  and 
over  this  we  slowly  passed,  resuming  presently  our 
usual  rate  of  speed,  which,  however,  rarely  exceeds 
twenty-two  or  three  miles  an  hour,  that  being  conceded 
as  the  rate  best  adapted  to  economy,  safety  and  comfort 


THE    "MAGIC    CITY   OF   THE    PLAINS."  45 

in  long  distances,  and  certainly  resulting  in  a  smooth 
ness  and  ease  delightfully  contrasting  with  the  rush, 
rattle  and  jar  of  the  Lightning  Express. 

Soon  after  this  we  passed  through  our  first  snow- 
shed,  very  like  a  covered  bridge  or  wooden  tunnel  in 
effect,  and  were  informed  that  the  U.  P.  E.  K.  had  been 
obliged  to  construct  hundreds  of  miles  of  these,  and 
•atone  fences  at  different  points  of  the  road,  to  obviais 
the  drifting  of  snow  banks,  capable  of  not  only  de 
taining,  but  of  burying,  a  train. 

And  now,  not  without  some  little  excitement,  we 
arrived  at  Cheyenne,  as  it  is  styled  upon  the  maps,  the 
Magic  City  of  the  Plains,  the  City  on  Wheels,  the  Town 
of  a  Day,  as  romancists  call  it,  or  in  yet  more  vigorous 
vernacular,  H — 11  on  Wheels,  which  latter  is,  perhaps, 
its  most  popular  name  among  its  own  inhabitants.  In 
view  of  this  reputation,  our  conductor  strongly  advised 
against  any  night  exploration,  at  least  by  the  ladies  of 
the  party,  of  the  streets  and  shops  of  Cheyenne,  stating 
that  the  town  swarmed  with  miners  en  route  for,  or  re 
turning  from,  the  Black  Hills,  many  of  them  despe 
radoes,  and  all  utterly  reckless  in  the  use  of  the  bowie- 
knife  and  pistol ;  or,  at  the  very  least,  in  the  practice 
of  language  quite  unfit  for  ears  polite,  although  well 
adapted  to  a  place  which  they  themselves  had  dubbed 
with  so  suggestive  a  name.  This  opposition,  was,  of 
course,  decisive ;  and  the  three  ladies,  as  one  man,  de 
clared  fear  was  a  word  unknown  in  their  vocabulary,  that 
purchases  essential  to  their  comfort  were  to  be  made, 
and  that  exercise  was  absolutely  necessary  to  their 
health.  Under  such  stress  of  argument  the  masculine 


46  CHEYENNE   A    TRUE    FRONTIER    TOWN. 

mind  gave  way  perforce,  and  not  only  the  sworn  beau 
of  the  party,  but  most  of  the  other  gentlemen,  indorsed 
the  movement  and  volunteered  to  act  as  escort,  produc 
ing,  loading,  and  flourishing  such  an  arsenal  of  weapons 
as  they  did  so  that  their  valiant  charges  huddled 
together,  far  more  affrighted  at  their  friends  than  their 
enemies,  and  piteously  imploring  that  the  firearms 
should  be  safely  hidden  until  needed ;  the  order  was 
obeyed,  and  at  about  half-past  nine  P.  M.  the  exploring 
party  set  forth. 

Cheyenne  proved  itself  a  fresh  and  vigorous  experi 
ence  of  a  true  frontier  town — streets  dark  and  suggest 
ive  of  all  sorts  of  fierce  experiences  connected  with 
the  swarms  of  swarthy,  rough-clad  men,  who  lounged 
at  every  corner  and  filled  every  shop,  yet  never  offered 
to  molest  the  visitors  by  word,  act  or  look,  although 
evidently  "taking  stock"  and  remarking  upon  their 
unfamiliar  appearance.  Our  first  visit  was  to  an  am 
munition  shop  to  lay  in  supplies  for  a  pistol  presented 
to  "  our  "  artist  upon  his  journey,  that  first  pistol  which 
is  to  every  young  man  now  -  a  -  days  what  the  toga 
mrilis  was  to  the  Roman  youth.  In  this  establishment 
we  had  an  opportunity  of  examining  the  outfit  deemed 
requisite  for  a  visit  to  the  Black  Hills,  in  the  shape  of 
horribly  keen  and  deadly  knives,  and  firearms  of  every 
size  and  variety.  In  fact,  it  was  decided  by  the  experts 
of  the  party  that  in  this  one  shop  was  condensed  a 
larger  assortment,  and  more  complete  arsenal,  of  deadly 
weapons  than  is  to  be  found  in  any  New  York  estab 
lishment. 

From  this  warehouse  of  death  we  passed  to  more 


SALUBRITY    OF    CHEYENNE.  47 

cheerful  scenes,  and  noticing,  by  the  way,  the  curious 
effect  in  the  dark  streets  of  the  transparencies  hung 
out  as  signs  by  many  of  the  shops.  The  druggist's  and 
jeweler's  impressed  us  as  by  far  the  best  stocked  we  had 
seen  since  leaving  home,  unless  in  Chicago.  Especially 
we  expressed  surprise  at  the  value  and  beauty  of  the 
diamonds  and  other  jewels  exposed  for  sale,  and  were 
informed  that  these  found  a  ready  market,  not  only 
among  the  successful  miners,  who,  returning  from  the 
Black  Hills,  are  tempted  to  an  immediate  enjoyment 
of  their  new  fortunes,  but  by  the  herdsmen,  who  bring 
immense  quantities  of  cattle  to  Cheyenne,  en  route  for 
the  East,  and,  having  made  a  large  and  successful 
sale,  are  very  apt  to  invest  part  of  the  proceeds  in 
gifts  to  wife  or  sweetheart — a  custom  too  laudable  to 
be  confined  to  Cheyenne. 

Much  was  confided  to  us  of  the  history,  past, 
present  and  future,  of  this  peripatetic  and  Hadean  city, 
and  also  many  assertions  as  to  the  unusual  salubrity  of 
the  atmosphere  and  its  virtues  in  all  chest  diseases  ;  for 
it  stands  almost  at  the  highest  point  of  the  long  ascent 
we  had  been  climbing  ever  since  crossing  the  Missis 
sippi,  and  is,  to  be  statistical,  6,041  feet  above  the  sea 
level.  Certainly  there  is  a  fine  tingling  touch  as  this 
rarified  air  reaches  our  lungs,  and  no  doubt  a  residence 
in  it  might  be  beneficial ;  the  per  contra  being  the  doubt 
as  to  whether  we  lived  at  all  with  the  atmosphere  so 
full  of  glistening  blades  and  whistling  bullets  as  report 
rather  than  our  experience  describes. 

It  is  as  well,  perhaps,  here  to  put  on  record  the 
result  of  certain  subsequent  investigations  of  ours  in 


48  COURTESY    OF    FRONTIERSMEN. 

Cheyenne,  after  our  return  from  Denver.  Between 
the  two  visits  we  had  diligently  read  some  interesting 
guide  -  books,  which  set  forth  the  City  built  in  a  Day 
— so  called  because  most  of  the  houses  were  trundled 
hither  on  wheels  from  Julesburg  as  the  terminus 
of  the  railway  advanced — as  a  moral,  decorous,  and 
highly  desirable  abode ;  so  the  second  arrival  being  in 
the  morning,  we  spent  half  the  day  in  searching  for 
the  City  of  the  Guide-books,  as  we  propose  redubbing 
this  child  of  many  names,  and  found,  as  we  had  fore 
seen,  nothing  more  than  the  typical  frontier  town  we 
had  glanced  at  by  gaslight ;  a  straggling  settlement  of 
wooden  houses,  minus  good  streets,  and  not  a  private 
residence  worthy  the  name  ;  the  streets  crowded  with 
every  variety  of  wild,  rough  frontiersmen  —  miners, 
teamsters,  drovers,  Mexicans,  scouts,  ferocious  to  look 
upon,  but  lamb-like  in  demeanor  toward  quiet  strangers, 
stepping  courteously  aside  to  let  us  pass,  respectful 
toward  women,  of  whom,  by-the-way,  there  was  scarcely 
one  to  be  seen  in  the  streets  of  Cheyenne,  and  even 
when  openly,  perhaps  rudely,  stared  at,  refraining  from 
returning  the  incivility.  We  saw  an  emigrant  train  of 
several  wagons  starting  for  the  Black  Hills,  one  of 
the  wagons  being  drawn  by  eight  mules,  whose  driver 
managed  them  by  a  single  rein.  A  scout  in  a  full 
suit  of  fringed  buckskin  was  lounging  about — a  hand 
some  man  with  long,  dark  curls  falling  from  beneath 
his  seal-skin  cap,  who  treated  our  open  and  admiring 
curiosity  with  true  aboriginal  indifference.  Another 
galloped  by  dressed  in  a  blue  cloak  over  a  purple 
jacket,  high  cavalry  boots,  and  a  sombrero,  beneath 


CONDUCTOR  "JIM    CO  BOON."  49 

which  his  hair  flew  wildly  back  as  he  dashed  past, 
guiding  his  horse  from  the  neck  in  true  Mexican 
fashion. 

As  an  instance  of  the  peaceful  order  now  reigning 
in  the  City  on  Wheels,  we  may  mention  that  the  night 
before  our  arrival  a  murder  had  been  committed  by 
which  a  wife  and  children  were  left  desolate ;  a  sub 
scription  was  going  the  rounds  for  their  relief,  and  had 
already  reached  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  ;  another 
man  had  been  garroted  and  relieved  of  seventy  dollars, 
and  a  large  shop  robbed  of  a  considerable  amount.  Our 
conductor,  named  Jim  Cohoon,  in  telling  of  these 
things,  casually  mentioned  that  a  few  years  ago,  while 
fishing  in  a  small  creek  near  Cheyenne,  with  his  two 
brothers,  they  had  been  attacked  by  Indians,  riddled 
with  arrows,  scalped,  and  left  for  dead.  The  two 
brothers  were  indeed  so,  but  he,  with  seven  arrows  in 
his  body  and  without  his  scalp,  had  managed  to  crawl 
three  miles  for  help,  and  had  entirely  recovered.  He 
was  a  fine,  handsome  -  looking  young  fellow,  and  so 
arranged  his  hair  that  the  injury  he  had  received  was 
not  apparent.  With  some  diffidence  he  exhibited  his 
head  to  the  gentlemen  of  the  party,  who  explained  to 
us  that  the  scalping  was  not,  as  we  had  supposed,  on 
the  crown  of  the  head,  but  considerably  below,  at  the 
back,  and  was  heart-shaped. 

The  public  buildings  of  the  City  of  the  Guide 
book  were  :  A  good  brick  hotel,  five  churches,  a  court 
house  and  jail,  a  City  Hall  and  schoolhouse,  two 
theatres,  and  such  a  number  of  establishments  openly 
proclaiming  themselves  concert  and  gambling  saloons, 


50  THEATRE  AND    GAMBLING    SALOON. 

that  we  ceased  to  count  them,  and  proposed  instead  to 
visit  them. 

Obtaining  permission  and  escort,  we  first  turned 
our  steps  to  McDaniel's  Theatre,  conspicuously  adver 
tised  as  offering  a  "  Great  Moral  Show,"  but  whether 
permanently  or  for  that  evening  only  was  not  mentioned. 
Passing  through  a  bar  gorgeous  with  frescoed  views  of 
Vesuvius  and  the  Bay  of  Naples,  and  remarkable  for 
its  cleanliness,  we  found  ourselves  in  the  parquette,  so  to 
speak,  of  the  theatre — a  large  room  fitted  up  with  chairs 
and  tables,  for  the  use  of  convivial  parties,  and  served 
by  pretty  waiter  girls.  The  stage  was  narrow,  the  drop- 
curtain  exceedingly  gorgeous,  and  statues  of  the  Yenus 
de  Medici,  and  another  undressed  lady  of  colossal  pro 
portions,  posed  strikingly  at  either  wing.  At  each  side 
of  the  hall  are  tiers  of  boxes,  so  called,  reached  by  long 
narrow  flights  of  stairs  from  the  parquette  ;  these  boxes 
are  closed  in,  and  have  each  a  window,  through  which 
the  inmates  must  project  head  and  shoulders  if  curious 
to  witness  the  performance  on  the  stage  ;  but,  as  they 
contain  tables  and  chairs,  it  is  possible  that  a  glass  of 
wine  or  lager  and  social  intercourse  may  be  more  the 
object  than  spectacular  entertainment. 

At  the  head  of  the  stairs  is  a  small  bar  bearing  the 
notice  :  "  No  drinks  retailed  here";  and  above,  there  is 
printed  in  large  letters  :  "  Gents,  be  liberal." 

Eeturning  through  the  bar,  we  passed  into  the 
gambling  saloon — a  large  room,  exquisitely  clean  and 
orderly,  with  a  bar  at  the  end,  and  long  tables  at  each 
side,  arranged  for  Rouge  et  Noir,  Eoulette,  Keno,  and 
our  national  game  of  Biblical  memory.  Behind  each  was 


THE    OPERA    HOUSE. 


51 


hung  upon  the  wall  a  neat  placard  bearing  the  rules  of 
the  game,  price  of  checks,  etc.,  and,  conspicuous  by  their 
tasteful  frames,  the  various  licenses,  costing,  as  the 
proprietor  pathetically  informed  us,  $600  for  every  three 
months.  Over  the  door  of  this  room  was  printed,  in 
fancy  letters,  the  word  ""Welcome!"  reminding  one 
drolly  of  the  Sunday-school  Festivals  and  similar  oc 
casions  when  such  inscriptions  are  usually  met  with. 
But  if  McDaniel's  Theatre  and  gambling  saloon  is  a 
whited  sepulchre,  let  us  do  it  the  justice  to  say  that  it 
is  very  white  indeed,  and  nearly  the  cleanest  place, 
materially  speaking,  that  we  were  ever  in. 

From  there  we  went  to  the  Opera  House,  owned  by 
the  same  proprietor,  and  closely  resembling  the  theatre, 
except  in  being  more  nicely  furnished  and  without  a 
bar  or  gambling  saloon.  It  boasts  a  band  of  eight 
pieces,  and  a  troupe  of  twenty-five  performers. 

A  little  fatigued  with  our  search  for  the  "  far-off,  the 
unattainable,  the  dim,"  in  the  City  of  the  Guide-book, 
we  returned  to  our  car,  and  found  the  Sultana,  unlike 
her  Eastern  prototypes,  making  herself  useful  as  well  as 
ornamental,  by  the  aid  of  the  contents  of  a  little  work- 
box,  with  whose  shining  implements  she  deftly  repaired 
"the  rent  the  envious  nail"  had  made  on  our  last 
stroll.  The  sight  was  homelike  and  tasteful,  and  a 
wholesome  antidote  to  the  Great  Moral  Show  we  had 
been  witnessing ;  although  inspiring  some  passing 
thought  of  envy  and  doubt  in  the  mind  of  one  more 
used  to  wield  the  pen  than  the  needle,  and  just  then 
forced  by  the  pitiless  logic  of  events  to  confess  that 
although  the  pen  may  be  mightier  than  the  sword, 


52 


A    STUDY  FOE   ARCHAEOLOGISTS. 


there  are  moments  in  life  when  the  needle  is  mightier 
than  either. 

This  chapter  closes  with  a  transcript  of  one  of  the 
signs  of  the  Magic  City  of  the  Plains,  which  transcript 
is  offered  to  the  study  of  archaeologists  and  hierogly- 
phists  : 


FREE  LUNCH 
EACH 


GAMBLING  BOOTHS  IN  THE  EAKLY  YEARS  OF  THE  RAILROADS. 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE     GARDEN     OF     THE     GODS. 

OING  to  sleep  in  Cheyenne  we  awoke  in  Denver, 
our  car  having  been  attached  during  the  night 
to  a  train  upon  the  Denver  Pacific  E.  E.  south  from 
Cheyenne  to  Denver.  "We  breakfasted,  and  were  still 
occupied  in  that  pleasing  duty  when  friends  old  and 
new  appeared,  intent  upon  hospitality,  ciceroneship,  and 
the  giving  and  receiving  of  news.  Carriages  were  in 
waiting,  and  with  little  delay  we  set  out  to  view  the 
city.  It  lies  broadly  and  generously  upon  a  great 
plain,  sloping  toward  the  South  Platte,  with  the  grand 
sweep  of  the  Eocky  Mountain  chain  almost  surrounding 
it ;  suggesting  by  its  lofty  and  snow-capped  summits 
Alpine  scenery  in  a  softer  and  more  genial  climate  than 
that  of  chilly  Switzerland.  A  large  number  of  hand 
some  houses  have  already  been  built  on  the  western 
side  of  the  city,  facing  the  mountain  view,  and  one  fore 
sees  that  when  Denver  shall  be  forty,  instead  of  twenty, 
years  old,  this  will  become  the  fashionable  and  charm 
ing  quarter ;  and,  by  the  way,  can  any  one  explain  what 
point  of  the  eternal  fitness  of  things  is  involved  in 
the  western  side  of  so  many  cities  being  the  aristocratic 
one  ?  In  Denver  it  will  be  the  Eocky  Mountains,  but 
in  London,  in  New  York,  in  Boston,  there  are  no  Eocky 
Mountains,  and — but  this  subject  is  too  wide  for  further 


54  AN   AGREEABLE   ENTERTAINMENT. 

handling  just  here  —  so  we  return  to  our  muttons  in 
the  shape  of  rows  upon  rows  of  cottonwood  trees 
transplanted  from  their  native  groves  to  the  streets  of 
Denver,  and  kept  alive  by  the  system  of  irrigating 
ditches  beside  the  street,  here  seen  for  the  first  time, 
but  a  noticeable  feature  in  our  travels  farther  west. 
The  streets  themselves,  as  well  as  the  roads  leading  out 
of  town,  are  as  fine  as  the  drives  in  Central  Park — 
solid,  hard,  and  never  muddy,  with  the  advantage  of 
being  perfectly  natural;  the  soil  being  an  apparently 
indigenous  Macadam.  The  style  of  building  is  different 
from  that  of  the  East,  it  being  the  fashion  to  construct 
bed,  dressing  and  bath-rooms  on  the  ground  floor,  as 
well  as  parlor,  library,  and  dining  -  room ;  verandas 
are  popular,  and  nearly  every  house  has  a  little  garden 
in  front. 

The  shops  are  spacious,  well  stocked,  and  city  like, 
and  there  is  the  usual  number  of  churches,  school- 
houses,  city  halls,  etc.,  indispensable  to  a  thriving, 
growing,  American  city. 

We  spent  the  evening  pleasantly  at  the  residence  of 
a  member  of  the  Colorado  Legislature  and  a  prominent 
citizen  of  Denver,  who  had  kindly  invited  a  number  of 
the  dignitaries  of  the  State  to  meet  us ;  and  these  gentle 
men,  almost  without  exception,  impressed  us  not  only 
as  men  of  strength,  purpose,  and  ability,  but  conspicu 
ous  for  that  genial  heartiness  of  manner,  and  the  gentle 
kindness  ol  feeling  which  make  the  Western  gentleman 
a  new  and  charming  type  of  his  class.  Without  trench 
ing  too  far  on  private  grounds,  one  may  venture, 
perhaps,  to  say,  that  never  was  this  genial  manner  and 


COLORADO    SPRINGS.  55 

fine  feeling  better  exemplified  than  in  the  Governor  of 
the  Centennial  State ;  while  his  young  wife  has  been 
gifted  with  a  grand  dignity  of  manner  and  appearance 
well  befitting  her  position,  and  blending  gracefully  with 
gentleness  and  refinement. 

The  following  morning  we  started  with  our  hosts  of 
the  previous  evening  for  a  visit  to  Colorado  Springs 
and  its  adjacent  wonders.  Leaving  our  own  car  in. 
Denver,  we  took  passage  upon  the  narrow-gauge  rail 
way  called  the  Denver  and  Kio  Grande  E.  E.,  running 
south  from  that  city,  and  immediately  began  the  steady 
upward  grade  by  which  it  climbs  the  "  divide  "  between 
the  South  Platte  and  Arkansas  rivers.  We  soon  began 
to  see  snow  upon  the  track,  and  the  temperature  of  the 
outer  air  had  sensibly  changed.  At  the  highest  point 
lies  Summit  Lake,  a  narrow  little  stream  of  water,  lying 
in  the  shadow  of  a  great  sugar-loaf  mountain,  with  a 
background  of  purple  foot  hills  and  the  snows  of  Pike's 
Peak,  which  dominate  all  this  region,  and  are  the  central 
point  of  nearly  every  view.  The  waters  of  this  little 
lake  run  impartially  north  and  south,  and  in  descend 
ing  from  its  level  we  soon  bade  good-by  to  the  snow, 
and  welcomed  the  buffalo  grass  and  cactus  plants  telling 
of  a  higher  temperature.  We  were  now  in  the  region 
of  buttes,  and  saw  ourselves  surrounded  on  every  side 
by  their  weird,  fantastic  forms — turrets,  winged  castles, 
needle-like  shafts,  heaped  piles  that  might  have  been 
the  home  of  ghoul  or  sprite  of  the  desert,  and  detached 
columns  of  red  sandstone  capped  with  cold  gray  rock 
of  every  height  and  proportion,  from  a  toadstool  to  a 
Corinthian  pillar. 


56  RESIDENCE    OF   'HELEN   HUNT,    "  //.  JJ.» 

Colorado  Springs,  presumably  so  called  because  the 
Springs  are  five  miles  away,  is  not  without  its  attrac 
tions.  There  are  five  roads  leading  away  from  it; 
Pike's  Peak  looks  condescendingly  down  on  it.  The  air 
is  said  to  be  excellent  for  asthmatics,  who  therefore 
abound  here,  and  its  morals  are  guarded  by  the  sternest 
of  liquor  laws,  which  is  met  by  the  following  humorous 
device.  A  visitor  consumed  by  illegal  thirst  is  shown 
into  a  small,  bare  room,  at  one  end  of  which  is  a  closed 
window,  with  a  shelf  inside  like  a  ticket  -  office,  but 
having  revolving  properties.  The  applicant  approaches 
this  window,  beside  which  there  is  a  slit  in  the  wall,  and 
passing  through  this  latter  ten  or  twenty-five  cents,  as 
the  case  may  be,  sighs  audibly  :  "  How  I  wish  I  had  a 
glass  of  ale,"  or,  "If  I  only  had  some  whisky  I  should 
feel  better,"  and  presto  !  the  window  shelf  is  turned  by 
some  mysterious  hand,  and  presently  on  it  rests  a  mug 
of  foaming  ale  or  a  modicum  of  spirits ;  the  window 
is  then  hermetically  closed,  and  law  and  order  reigns 
supreme. 

Manitou  Springs,  five  miles  farther  on,  is  a  different 
style  of  place,  for  now  we  are  fairly  in  the  region  of  the 
beautiful  and  strange,  and  at  every  moment  the  excla 
mations  of  one  or  other  of  the  party  summoned  atten 
tion  to  a  new  point  of  interest,  while  the  unsatisfied 
gaze  was  never  ready  to  turn  from  the  last. 

At  Colorado  and  Manitou  Springs  are  the  cottages 
of  two  of  our  most  cherished  American  female  authors, 
Helen  Hunt,  "  H.  H.,"  and  Grace  Greenwood ;  the  former 
cozy  and  attractive,  with  a  huge  bay  window,  brilliant 
with  flowers,  attesting  the  taste  of  the  owner,  whom  one 


GRACE    GREENWOOD'S    HOME.  57 

is  glad  to  know  Las  no  longer  the  right  to  utter  those 
lonely  and  longing  notes  whose  music  found  echo  in  so 
many  hearts.  Grace  Greenwood's  home  is  also  charac 
teristic  and  tasteful,  with  some  branching  antlers  above 
the  door,  like  a  forester's  house  in  Tyrol.  Here,  too, 
are  the  residences  of  some  English  gentlemen,  where 
nature  and  art  blend  promiscuously  In  rustic  bridges 
across  wild  mountain  fissures,  summer-houses  perched 
upon  needle-like  aeries,  and  masses  of  brilliant  flowers 
contrasting  with  the  savage  strength  of  rock  and  ever 
green.  At  some  little  distance  from  here  we  heard  of 
the  daughter  and  sons  of  the  late  Canon  Kingsley 
making  a  home  in  the  heart  of  the  wilderness,  and,  as 
may  be  fancied,  finding  a  piquant  delight  in  the  vivid 
contrast  of  the  most  artificial  grade  of  English  life,  and 
the  utter  naturalness  of  the  American  desert,  which 
may  yet  be  taught  to  blossom  like  the  rose. 

There  are  some  fine  hotels  at  Manitou,  and  several 
Mineral  Springs  of  varying  degrees  of  unsavoriness,  as 
at  Saratoga.  The  one  near  Grace  Greenwood's  cottage 
flows  into  a  stone  basin  by  the  wayside,  and  bubbles 
joyously  over  with  a  musical  invitation  to  the  thirsty 
visitor  not  justified  by  the  flavor  of  its  alkaline  waters. 

From  here  we  drive  up  the  Ute  Pass,  a  canon  popu 
lar  with  those  peaceful  savages,  perhaps  for  its  beauty, 
more  probably  for  its  directness.  The  narrow  roadway 
climbs  up  between  high  walls  of  red  sandstone,  zigzag- 
ing  its  way  beneath  the  shadow  of  stupendous  cliffs, 
with  a  lovely  little  stream  foaming  and  brawling  far 
below,  leaping  down  now  and  again  into  two  lovely 
cascades,  whose  voice  is  the  only  sound  in  these  eternal 


58  "THE    GARDEN  OF   THE    GODS." 

solitudes.  Clumps  of  dark  evergreen,  cedar,  and  fir  are 
fringed  with  the  tender  green  of  budding  willows,  and 
the  tourist  might  look  for  hours  in  quiet  delight  at  moun 
tain  torrent  and  snowy  waterfall  and  contrasting  foliage 
but  for  the  stupendous  and  oppressive  grandeur  of  the 
heaven-piercing  crags  above,  the  dizzy  abyss  below,  the 
glimpses  of  distant  mountain  peaks,  and  an  undefined 
sense  of  might  and  majesty  everywhere,  which  makes  the 
beholder  feel  that  humanity  is  but  a  mere  impertinent 
intrusion  upon  the  scene — a  pygmy,  whom  the  slightest 
movement  of  nature  might  crush  in  the  midst  of  its 
impertinent  admiration. 

No  finer  effect,  no  more  impressive  scene,  is  to  be 
found  among  Alps  or  Andes,  and  so,  by-and-by,  the 
restless  world  will  know,  and  the  Ute  Pass  will  grow 
as  vulgar  as  Chamouni. 

Eeturning  to  Manitou,  we  branch  off  into  a  new 
direction,  to  visit  the  Garden  of  the  Gods,  whose  happy, 
if  not  especially  appropriate,  name  has  lured  us  on 
through  days  of  expectation,  now  to  be  rewarded  with  a 
fullness  seldom  vouchsafed  to  grand  and  indefinite 
hope.  The  hard,  red  road  along  which  our  fleet  little 
horses  spatter  so  gayly,  winds  suddenly  into  a  wooded 
hollow,  a  "park,"  as  the  Westerners  call  it,  and  we 
presently  pause  before  a  stupendous  gateway,  formed 
of  two  great  parallel  masses  of  sandstone — smooth, 
shining,  and  glowing  in  the  sun  with  a  vividness  of 
color  grandly  shown  out  by  the  dazzling  white  of  the 
quartz  ridge,  which  lies  like  ^an  outer  wall  of  marble 
just  outside  all  this  dull  red  gold.  These  colossal 
gates  rise  to  a  height  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet, 


A    SCENE    FOE   AN  ARTIST!"  59 

and  leave  an  entrance  of  two  hundred  feet  in  width? 
through  which  some  gorgeous  Pharaonic  procession 
may  be  imagined  passing,  with  chariots  and  horsemen 
and  barbaric  fanfare  of  brazen  instruments,  and  captive 
kings,  whom  some  grim  enchanter  will  presently  trans 
form  into  the  grotesque  figures  crowding  the  scene 
beyond.  But  the  Pharaonic  pageant  fades,  and  gazing 
through  the  gateway  and  across  the  garden  of  these 
strange  gods  we  see  Pike's  Peak  in  the  far  distance,  its 
snow-clad  crest  glowing  like  burnished  silver  against 
the  pure  blue  of  the  sky,  and  close  at  hand  the  sharp 
spires  and  minarets  of  the  "  Cathedral  Rocks,"  while  a 
little  further  on  sits  the  "  Nun,"  who  has  strayed  out 
for  some  open  air  devotions.  The  garden  contains  about 
fifty  acres  of  land,  its  floor  of  finely  disintegrated  red 
sandstone  partially  covered  with  thickly  tufted  buffalo 
grass,  and  silvery  gray  sage  brush,  while  the  hanging 
slopes  and  gentle  rises  are  dotted  with  evergreen  trees 
whose  sombre  green  adds  the  shadow  needed  to  sustain 
this  riot  of  color  and  warmth  and  glow,  which  fairly 
makes  the  blood  tingle  in  its  excess ;  for  surely  never 
was  sky  so  blue  as  that  which  bent  above  the  Garden 
of  the  Gods,  never  was  sunshine  so  yellow,  never  were 
snow-clad  peaks  and  quartz  cliffs  so  dazzlingly  white, 
never  red  sandstone,  whether  of  old  or  new  formation, 
so  richly  red  and  glowing.  "A  scene  for  an  artist!" 
exclaimed  a  litterateur,  and  an  artist  at  his  elbow 
exclaimed,  in  quiet  scorn :  "  When  the  Creator  wants 
this  painted  I  suppose  he'll  make  an  artist  on  purpose 
to  do  it.  He  certainly  hasn't  yet !"  But  still  one  longs 
to  plant  Gustave  Dore  in  the  midst  of  that  fantastic 


60  PETEIFIED    FOEMS    OF   WONDER. 

scene,  whose  greatest  wonder  is  the  vague,  half  formed 
ideas,  similes,  suggestions  it  awakens  in  every  sensitive 
mind,  and  which  persons  try  to  communicate  to  each 
other,  only  to  find  once  more  how  inadequate  is  human 
language  to  represent  the  human  thought. 

Our  guide,  well  up  in  the  office,  glibly  catalogued  this 
and  that  formation :  this  was  the  "Seal"  and  that  the 
"  Scotch  Giant,"  the  "  Camel,"  the  "  Frog,"  the  "Lion" ; 
and  pointed  out  how  the  strata  of  the  detached  rocks 
followed  the  same  inclination,  and  ran  parallel  with 
the  gentle  slope  of  the  ground ;  but  having  meekly 
received  as  much  information  as  our  shallow  brain 
would  contain,  we  drew  back  within  ourselves  to  gaze 
in  silent,  ignorant  delight,  at  these  petrified  forms  of 
wonder  —  representatives  left  behind,  as  it  were,  by 
some  unremembered  age  and  race  •  foretaste,  perhaps, 
of  wonders  yet  to  come,  when  our  age  and  race  shall  be 
the  unremembered  ones !  From  dreams  like  these  we 
are  recalled  by  the  Chief's  cheerful  voice,  and  again  we 
pass  the  beautiful  gate  and  enter  once  more  the  familiar 
cold  gray  of  the  landscape  of  the  plains,  where  even  the 
sky  is  less  blue  and  the  sunshine  less  golden.  Twist 
ing  our  necks  for  one  last  glimpse,  we  photograph  on 
our  brain  in  a  never-to-be-forgotten  picture,  the  grand 
gateway,  with  its  gorgeous  color  sharply  drawn  against 
the  vivid  blue,  the  great,  snow  -  clad  peak  in  the  far 
distance,  and  the  hooded  Nun  who  seems  bending  for 
ward  to  look  after  us  as  we  are  very  reluctantly  borne 
away. 

Our  next  point  is  Glen  Eyrie,  a  formation  similar  to, 
but  much  less  wonderful  than,  the  Garden  of  the  Gods. 


A    TREASURE    RARER    THAN    GOLD.  61 

.Like  that,  it  is  entered  between  two  gigantic  portals, 
curiously  composite  in  color  of  garnet,  green,  crimson  and 
purple,  upon  the  outer  face,  while  the  inner  displays 
every  shade  of  a  warm,  yellow  green  Inside  are  some 
grand  red  sandstone  buttes,  towering  like  sentinels,  a 
wilderness  of  cottonwood  and  fir  trees,  a  pretty  running 
stream  and  fine  distant  views  of  the  snow-clad 
mountains  and  purple-tinted  foot-hills.  This  glen  is 
the-  property  of  General  Palmer,  and  in  its  midst  stands 
the  handsome  villa  built  to  welcome  his  young  bride, 
under  whose  direction  the  house  was  pulled  to  pieces 
several  times  in  the  building  before  it  became  the  ideal 
home  of  which  every  bride  may  dream,  but  very  few  so 
fortunately  possess. 

The  return  from  this  region  of  enchantment  to  com 
mon-place  Colorado  Springs  was  over  the  flattest, 
grayest,  most  mountainous  of  prairie  country,  and  in 
the  teeth  of  such  a  wind  as  is  only  possible  upon  the 
plains,  where  neither  tree,  nor  shrub,  nor  hillock  breaks 
its  force.  The  chill  and  exhaustion  after  a  morning  of 
such  excitement  proved  too  much  for  flesh  too  weak  to 
obey  the  willing  spirit,  and  by  the  time  we  reached  the 
Crawford  House,  wnere  a  good  dinner  awaited  us,  the 
writer  was  seriously  ill,  and  spent  a  bad  half  of  an  hour 
while  the  others  dined.  But  yet,  this  experience  is 
among  the  most  precious  of  all  that  Western  tour,  for 
it  gave  us  a  treasure  rarer  than  all  the  gold  of  the 
Black  Hills — it  gave  us  a  friond. 

Having  already  seen  and  admired  her  as  our  hostess 
of  the  preceding  evening,  we  had  quietly  noted  in  her 
beautiful  house  the  selection  of  pictures,  engravings, 


62  DETAINED    BY  A   HIGH    WIND. 

books,  and  objects  d'art,  which  proclaimed  their  mistress 
a  person  of  high  literary  culture,  artistic  taste,  and 
extended  travel ;  we  had  marked  with  admiration  the 
fine  manners,  the  tone  of  the  best  society,  the  ease, 
cordiality,  and  aplomb  which  made  every  one  of  her 
guests  the  object  of  special  attention,  while  never 
neglecting  the  rest ;  but  now,  beneath  the  touchstone  of 
sickness  and  suffering  we  saw  developed  traits  of  tender 
ness,  unselfishness,  of  combined  wisdom  and  gentleness 
befitting  a  Sister  of  Mercy  rather  than  a  woman  of  soci 
ety  ;  and  as  her  gentle  touch,  kindly  eyes  and  assuring 
voice  smoothed  away  the  pain  and  terror  and  weariness 
just  now  so  overpowering,  a  sentiment  sprang  into 
being  whose  life  will  only  end  with  our  own,  and  all 
the  rest  of  life  will  be  stronger  and  better  for  that  hour 
in  which  an  angel  stirred  the  waters  and  love  rose  from 
their  depths. 

And  now  the  dinner  is  concluded,  the  invalid  on  her 
feet  again,  and  we  are  at  the  station,  but  are  there 
informed  that  the  wind  is  so  high  that  it  is  not  deemed 
prudent  to  start  the  train  upon  this  narrow  gauge  road. 
TVe  pass  an  hour  and  a  half  in  great  anxiety,  as  we 
have  calculated  our  day's  excursion  so  as  to  return  just 
in  time  to  connect  our  car  with  the  outward-bound  train 
at  Denver,  and  we  are  now  afraid  of  losing  it ;  but  pres 
ently  arrives  a  telegram  with  the  cheering  assurance 
that  the  train  shall  be  detained  until  our  arrival,  which 
comfortable  arrangement  is  carried  out,  not  too  greatly 
to  the  discomfiture,  let  us  charitably  hope,  of  the  punct 
ual  passengers  already  on  the  ground,  and  obliged  to 
await  our  arrival — another  exemplification,  by  the 


"  THE    BEST    REMAINS    BEHIND ! " 


63 


of  the  adage  quoted  at  Toledo,  "  Served  the  bird  right 
for  being  out  so  early !" 

And  so  we  leave  Colorado,  enchanted  with  what  we 
have  seen,  yet  reluctant  as  the  child  who  perforce 
must  leave  the  feast  while  any  dainties  remain 
untouched;  for  we  have  heard  of  Grey's  Peak,  that 
mighty  Dome  of  the  Continent,  with  its  wonderful  views 
of  the  great  Arkansas  Caiion,  from  whose  height  one 
may  gaze  dizzily  down  at  the  river,  two  thousand  feet 
below,  silently  flowing  between  mile  after  mile  of  sheer 
precipice.  We  have  heard  of  the  mountain  of  the  Holy 
Cross,  where  the  sacred  emblem  has  been  set  by  God's 
own  hand  upon  the  face  of  an  ail-but — inaccessible 
mountain,  the  eternal  snows  that  designate  its  form 
shining  clear  and  white  from  the  gray  rock  in  which  it 
is  set,  and  visible  at  a  distance  of  eighty  miles.  We 
have  heard  of  wild  passes  not  yet  fully  explored,  which 
may  lead  to  wonders  greater  than  any  of  these  ;  of  pos 
sible  gold  mines  not  yet  opened ;  of  traditional  hoards 
made  by  the  red  masters  of  these  hills,  who,  conquered, 
yet  unsubdued,  have  died  and  made  no  sign ;  of  all  of 
these  and  more  we  hear,  and  yet,  hurried  by  relentless 
Time  and  Steam,  we  turn  our  backs  and  depart,  mur 
muring  with  Scherezade  :  "  The  best  remains  behind !" 


CROSSING  THE  MISSISSIPPI. 


CHAPTEE  VI. 

CATHEDRALS,      CASTLES,      CITIES,      NOT     BTJILT     BY 
HANDS. 

NEXT  day  about  noon  we  once  more  start  upon 
our  "Westward  journey,  pass  through  numberless 
snow-sheds  and  over  a  country  more  utterly  desolate 
than  anything  we  have  yet  seen,  and  reminding  us 
forcibly  of  the  Peruvian  deserts ;  the  only  point  of 
advantage  being  the  thick  mat  of  buffalo  grass  which, 
unpromising  as  it  looks,  is,  we  are  informed,  the  favorite 
food  of  all  cattle,  and  retaining  its  sweetness  even 
when  apparently  utterly  dry  and  withered.  To  add  to 
the  discomfort  of  the  scene,  a  blinding  snow  storm 
came  on  about  dark,  so  that  we  were  glad  to  draw  down 
the  shades,  have  the  lamps  lighted  earlier  than  usual, 
and  with  dinner,  cards,  conversation  and  music  pass  as 
pleasant  and  cheery  an  evening  as  if  the  howl  of  the 
coyote  did  not  mingle  with  the  shriek  of  the  wind  and 
the  fierce  lashing  of  the  snow  against  our  windows. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  next  day  the  storm 
subsided,  and  the  clouds  rolling  away  like  the  vast 
curtains  of  Nature's  grandest  theatre,  displayed  a  scene 
so  magnificent,  so  novel,  and  so  utterly  changed  from 
that  we  had  shut  out  the  night  before,  that  we  seemed 
to  have  passed  through  that  snow  storm  from  one 
world  into  another.  We  had  entered  the  region  of  the 
Uintah  Mountains,  and  are  ab.out  to  cross  Green  River, 


THE    PLAYGROUND    OF   FORGOTTEN    TITANS.          65 

whose  vivid  and  poisonous-looking  waters  take  their 
color  from  arsenical  and  copper  deposits  washed  from 
the  green  shale  abounding  on  its  rocky  banks.  But  we 
have  no  time  for  geological  or  scientific  studies  just 
now,  and  give  but  a  distracted  attention  to  the  lecture 
of  the  savant  at  our  elbow — whom  the  youth  of  the 
party  irreverently  denominate  "  The  bureau  of  informa 
tion" —  while  the  rapidly  moving  train  whirls  us  on 
through  this  region,  where  Nature  seems  to  have 
indulged  herself  in  mad,  purposeless  exercise  of  her 
vastest  powers,  with  little  heed  for  man's  approval  or 
convenience.  In  fact,  so  far  from  calling  this  country 
a  new  one,  it  impressed  us  as  the  playground  of  forgot 
ten  Titans  :  such  lavish  wasto  of  color,  of  form,  of  power ; 
such  gigantic  forces  brought  to  bear,  and  the  result  left 
idle,  a  mere  waste  of  supernatural  energy ;  its  only 
effect  upon  the  world  the  blank  astonishment  and  awe 
with  which  we — the  nineteenth  century  flies  upon  the 
coach-wheel — stare,  and  gape,  and  shiver,  and  exclaim. 
To  describe  these  wonders,  to  chronicle  them  even,  is 
not  our  purpose  ;  are  not  the  Guide  Books  intended  for 
just  that,  and  are  they  not  excellent  of  their  kind  ? 
What  matter,  then,  whether  the  grand  mass  of  castel 
lated,  turretted  rock  one  admires,  with  its  low-browed 
gateway,  its  long,  dark  shot  windows,  whence  Rebecca 
might  even  now  be  peeping  to  watch  the  siege  of 
Torquilstone  for  Ivanhoe's  benefit,  be  called  Petrified 
Fish  Cut,  or  the  Giant's  Teapot,  or  the  Devil's  Tavern, 
or  the  Tower  of  London  ?  For  our  part,  we  call  them 
all  the  Castle  of  St.  John,  in  memory  of  the  enchanted 
tower  described  by  the  Wizard  of  the  North,  which 

E 


66  A   MIRACLE    OF   ENGINEERING. 

was  now  a  castle  full  of  wonders  and  delights,  and  ladie 
fayre  and  belted  knight,  and  now  was  but  a  mass  of 
cold,  gray  rock,  according  to  the  humor  of  the  enchanter 
and  the  character  of  the  spectator.  The  Church  Buttes, 
for  instance,  may  suggest  ecclesiastical  architecture  to 
some  minds,  but  to  ours  the  name  seemed  dwarfing 
and  unworthy ;  since  no  cathedral  built  by  human 
hands,  not  St.  Peter's  itself,  could  for  a  moment  bear 
comparison  with  some  of  the  Titanic  piles  here 
upreared — could  seem  other  than  a  paltry  and  puny 
attempt  of  man  to  mimic  Nature. 

And  now  we  reach  Echo  Canon,  and  with  bated 
breath  and  a  zest  of  terrible  delight  tingling  in  our 
veins  we  sweep  down  with  a  grand  rush  and  roar 
between  beetling  crags,  and  toppling  crests,  and  sheer 
precipices,  which  now  seem  planted  directly  across  our 
path,  as  if  in  reaching  them  the  solid  wall  must  open  to 
admit  us,  or  else  we,  striking  full  upon  that  impassive 
barrier,  must  be  hurled  back  to  the  opposite  wall,  like 
the  shuttlecock  in  a  demoniac  game  of  battledore.  But 
the  road  winds,  and  doubles,  and  curves,  and  twists  like 
a  snake — a  miracle  of  engineering,  a^  the  Chief  informs 
us,  but  one  has  no  thought  for  that  just  now ;  indeed, 
as  the  full  breath  of  the  mountain  sweeps  past  and  over 
our  car  we  seem  lifted  upon  its  wings,  and  fly  exultingly 
downward  and  onward,  oblivious  of  engines  and  rails 
and  pounds  of  steam,  which,  nevertheless,  like  the 
poet's  roast  beef,  are  the  essential  foundation  of  this 
rare  and  aesthetic  delight.  Speaking  of  wings,  we  well 
remember  a  formation  called  the  Winged  Rock,  where 
a  pair  of  eagle-like  pinions  seem  struggling  painfully 


ACTION    OF    WEATHER    AND    TIME.  67 

out  of  the  face  of  a  precipice,  and  we  can  easily  fancy 
how  the  poor  bird  of  Jove  was  caught  there  just  a 
moment  too  late,  and  petrified  in  his  last  wild  struggle 
for  freedom.  Whether  the  shock  deprived  him  of  his 
head,  or  if  he  has  since  been  decapitated  by  the 
elements,  no  man  can  say ;  but,  certes,  he  is  headless. 
Many  of  these  cliffs  are  curiously  honeycombed  by 
the  action  of  weather  and  time,  some  of  them  appearing 
almost  sponge -like  in  their  reticulation ;  and  we  were 
grieved  at  being  informed  by  our  savant  that,  like  most 
other  peculiarities  of  this  world,  the  buttes  of  this 
wonder  region  are  doomed  to  be  smoothed  away  by  the 
hand  of  civilization ;  for  the  presence  of  such  quantities 
of  iron  as  go  to  the  formation  of  the  railway,  and  more 
especially  the  wires  of  the  magnetic  telegraph,  have 
such  attractions  for  the  storm  clouds  that  formerly 
swept  harmlessly,  or  rather  dryly,  over  this  region,  that 
the  rainfall  and  the  general  humidity  of  the  atmosphere 
have  sensibly  increased,  and  just  in  proportion  the  sharp 
outlines  of  cathedral  spire,  of  witches'  needles,  of 
Titanic  face,  or  soldierly  sentinel  have  softened  and 
crumbled,  and  "  effaced  "  themselves,  until  some  points 
of  interest  are  already  lost,  others  have  altered  to 
commonplace,  and  our  savant,  with  a  relish  for  which 
we  could  have  set  Follette  at  him,  gave  the  region 
something  over  half  a  century  to  have  lost  every  one  of 
its  special  features.  If  ever  poor  Louis  XV. 's  bon  mot  is 
justifiable,  is  it  not  in  the  face  of  such  a  prophecy? 
"Apres  moi  le  deluge!" 

On  the  overhanging  edge  of  a  cliff,  high  above  our 
heads,  appeared    some   mounds    of   apparently   small 


68  SLENDER    AND    FANTASTIC    ROCKS. 

stones,  collected  by  the  Mormons  in  1857  to  serve  as 
missiles  of  war  against  the  U.  S.  troops  under  General 
Johnson,  who  was  then  marching  against  them.  He 
did  not,  however,  pass  through  the  Canon  that  season, 
and  before  another  the  domestic  differences  of  Utah 
and  her  mamma  were  so  far  adjusted  that  the  piles  of 
stones  remained.  Beyond  here  we  are  called  to  observe 
the  resemblance  of  a  huge  mountain  shoulder  to  the 
prow  of  a  steamship,  and  the  resemblance  is  enhanced 
by  the  waving  top  of  a  little  cedar  tree,  obligingly  grow 
ing  in  the  place  of  a  flag.  They  call  it  the  Great 
Eastern ;  but  considering  the  green  banner,  one  must 
conclude  it  an  Irish  emigrant  ship,  which,  in  some 
forgotten  age  undertook  to  sail  to  America  by  way  of 
Japan  and  the  Overland  Route,  and  got  caught  in  the 
same  fashion  as  the  eagle.  Why  cannot  some  public- 
spirited  man  quarry  the  mountain  from  above,  in  search 
of  the  bodies  of  the  hapless  crew  and  passengers  ? 

And  now  a  group  of  slender  and  fantastic  rocks,  sur- 
named  the  Witches,  appear,  remarkable  not  only  for 
their  weird  shapes,  but  for  the  new  combinations  of 
color  exhibited  in  their  snowwhite  surface,  banded 
with  red  and  yellow.  Why  some  other  rocks  are 
called  the  Witches'  Bottles  we  know  not,  unless  Mr. 
Gough  may  have  been  this  way  and  deduced  from 
petrified  witches  and  petrified  bottles  a  grand  moral 
tradition  in  the  interests  of  total  abstinence. 

From  Echo  Canon  we  sweep  into  Weber  Caiion,  and 
are  immediately  struck  both  with  the  contrast  of  form 
and  color ;  for  here  the  detached  and  fantastic  buttes 
give  place  to  grand  sweeps  of  mountain  sides,  and  bold 


THE    THOUSAND -MILE    TREE.  69 

masses  of  rock,  no  longer  of  rich  red  sandstone,  but  of 
all  shades  of  gray,  from  a  tender,  greenish  tinge  to  a 
sombre  hue  just  losing  itself  in  black.  The  little  "Weber 
river,  gray-green  itself  in  color,  winds  timidly  along  at 
the  feet  of  these  overpowering  crags,  scarcely  daring  to 
murmur  at  the  gloomy  shadow  which ^  at  some  points 
forever  excludes  any  ray  of  sunshine  from  its  life,  and 
yet  she  seems  content. 

Near  the  crest  of  one  gray  crag  we  were  shown  some 
little  apertures,  said  to  be  the  entrances  to  caves  where, 
year  after  year,  the  eagles  build  and  rear  their  young, 
defiant  of  their  enemy,  man,  who  has  yet  found  no 
means  to  scale  this  aerie.  Leb  us  hope  he  never  may, 
and  that  the  bird  of  freedom  may  scream  back  for  cen 
turies  an  insulting  echo  to  the  train  whirling  like 
children's  toys  hundreds  of  feet  below  his  home. 

Presently  we  pass  the  Thousand-Mile  tree,  Nature's 
landmark  for  the  round  thousand  miles  west  of  Omaha; 
and  here,  a  little  farther  on,  upon  a  smooth  mountain 
side,  we  see  one  of  her  very  oddest  freaks,  in  this,  her 
old-time  playground.  Two  parallel  ledges  of  granite, 
in  places  fifty  feet  in  height,  crop  out  from  the  hillside, 
and,  holding  a  uniform  distance  of  about  fourteen  feet, 
extend  eight  hundred  feet  downward  to  its  base,  where 
they  disappear  in  a  little  sheet  of  water.  It  is  called 
the  Devil's  Slide,  and  it  would  be  amusing,  certainly,  on 
a  Winter's  night,  to  see  his  Infernal  Majesty  disporting 
himself  there  in  company  with  the  harlequin  "Witches 
of  Echo  Canon  and  their  gray-clad  sisters  of  Weber. 

And  now  a  grand,  snow-clad  mountain  rears  itself 
across  our  path,  apparently  forbidding  all  exit  from  the 


70  UTAH,    THE    LAND    OF    THRIFT. 

vast  prison  house  through  which  we  have  been  borne  ; 
but  a  nearer  approach  shows  a  huge  natural  portal, 
formed  perhaps,  for  us,  perhaps  for  the  little  river 
which  here  suddenly  throws  off  its  late  submissive 
aspect,  and  after  some  wild  plunges  hither  and  thither, 
sees  its  way  of  escape,  and,  rushing  forth,  becomes,  in 
later  life,  as  commonplace  and  quiet  a  river  as  ever 
turned  a  miller's  wheel  or  floated  logs  to  a  lumber 
yard. 

Following  the  strange  instinct  which  leads  so  many 
of  the  godfathers  of  Nature's  children  to  name  them 
after  the  Prince  of  Darkness,  this  mountain  is  called 
Devil's  Gate  Mountain,  and  these  portals  the  Devil's 
Gate.  Gliding  through,  we  cross  the  Weber  Kiver  once 
more  upon  a  trestle  bridge,  with  the  waters  roaring 
fifty  feet  beneath,  and  get  a  last  view  of  it  twirling  past 
a  huge  gray  wall  of  rock,  in  whose  sunless  shadows  its 
waters,  but  now  so  bright,  show  cold  and  green,  and  then 
we  look  back  at  the  crowding  and  apparently  imperious 
mountain  range  we  have  just  passed,  admire  once  more 
their  grand  and  snow-clad  summits,  piercing  the  cold 
blue  sky  and  frowning  defiance  on  men  whose  puny 
strength  has  conquered  their  inmost  fastnesses,  and 
evaded  their  grimmest  terrors  ;  and  so  we  glide  out 
into  the  level  plain,  draw  a  calmer  and  freer  breath, 
and  gaze  around  on  scenes  more  familiar  to  our  eyes 
than  the  wonders  so  lately  gazed  upon ;  for  we  are 
in  Utah,  the  land  of  thrift  and  industry,  of  agricul 
ture  and  irrigation.  We  have  been  appalled  by  Nature 
in  her  unconquered  might,  in  her  resistless  grandeur ; 
we  are  now  to  admire  her  placidly  yielding  to  man's 


ADVANCED    CIVILIZATION. 


71 


dominion,    and    lending    her    creative    forces    to    his 
guidance  and  direction. 

The  barren  plains  become  verdant  fields,  the  squalid 
cabin  of  the  usual  Western  settler  becomes  a  neat  cot 
tage,  with  flowers  and  garden-produce  growing  at  its 
doors ;  the  odious  sage-brush  disappears  before  the 
system  of  irrigation,  which  it  dislikes  as  much  as  the 
more  human  indigenes  of  the  prairies;  men,  women, 
and  children  are  better  fed,  better  dressed,  and  better 
mannered;  in  fact,  as  we  stop  in  the  first  Mormon 
village,  above  whose  single  store  are  inscribed  the 
mystic  letters  Z.  C.  M.  I.  (Zion's  Co-operative  Mercan 
tile  Institution),  we  feel  a  vague  doubt  and  bewilder 
ment  stealing  over  our  prejudices,  not  to  say  our 
principles,  and  are  disposed  to  murmur,  "Certainly, 
polygamy  is  very  wrong,  but  roses  are  better  than 
sage-brush,  and  potatoes  and  peas  preferable  as  diet 
to  buffalo  grass.  Also  school-houses,  with  cleanly  and 
comfortable  troops  of  children  about  them,  are  a  symp 
tom  of  more  advanced  civilization  than  lonely  shanties 
with  only  fever-and-ague  and  whisky  therein.  Why  is 
nothing  quite  harmonious,  quite  consistent,  quite  per 
fect  in  this  world?"  and  Echo  Canon  echoes  "Why?" 


PRAIKIE  DOG  TOWN. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

SALT     LAKE     CITYJ       MKS.    AMELIA'S     PICTUKEJ     MISS 

SNOW. 

OGDEN,  a  city  not  otherwise  remarkable,  is  the 
junction  of  the  two  great  railways  that  unite  sea 
to  sea — the  clasp  upon  the  belt,  so  to  speak,  by  which 
the  continent  is  girdled.  In  point  of  fact,  the  junction 
was  effected  at  a  place  called  Promontory,  some  fifty 
miles  west  of  Ogden,  and  readers  of  the  illustrated 
papers  eight  years  ago  may  recall  the  poetic  and 
picturesque  interest  attaching  to  the  scene  that  took 
place  when  an  engine  upon  the  Union  Pacific  road,  and 
another  upon  the  Central  Pacific  approached,  the  one 
from  the  East  and  the  other  from  the  "West,  until  they 
actually  touched,  while  a  libation  of  wine  was  poured 
upon  the  last  tie,  the  golden  and  silver  spikes  were 
driven  by  the  hand  of  Governor  Stamford,  representing 
the  C.  P.  E.  R,  and  Dr.  Durant  of  the  U.  P.  E.  E.,  and  a 
prayer  was  offered  by  a  Massachusetts  clergyman — a 
combination  of  heathen,  Christian  and  civil  rites,  charac 
teristic  enough  of  our  great  Eepublic,  and  also  of  a  work 
carried  on  and  completed  by  Europeans  and  Asiatics, 
with  Americans  directing  both.  Ogden  is  also  the 
terminus,  or  rather  starting  point,  of  the  Utah  Central 
road,  running  south  to  Salt  Lake  City  and  beyond,  and 
of  the  Utah  Northern,  running  nowhere  in  particular  as 
yet.  These  two  great  and  two  little  roads  have  amic- 


A    FRAGMENT    OF  A    SERMON-  73 

ably  agreed  to  build  a  large  Union  depot,  to  be  occupied 
in  common. 

Our  car  being  detached  from  the  Union  Pacific 
train,  was  connected  with  one  waiting  upon  the  Utah 
Central  road,  becoming,  during  that  process,  the  nucleus 
of  an  inquiring  group  of  Mormon  and  Gentile  youth, 
and  we  were  not  sorry  to  find  ourselves  presently 
steaming  southward  at  full  speed,  and  enjoying  a 
beautiful  sunset  scene,  where  the  Wahsatch  Mountains 
at  the  East  and  the  Great  Salt  Lake  at  the  West,  with  a 
smiling  and  fertile  country  between,  make  up  a  land 
scape  one  longs  for  time  to  dwell  upon.  The  distance 
from  Ogden  to  Salt  Lake  City  is  thirty-six  miles,  and 
we  arrive  at  the  terminus  a  little  before  nine  o'clock, 
just  in  time  to  hear  the  last  part  of  a  service  in  one  of 
the  small  churches  scattered  over  the  city,  to  serve 
when  the  weather  is  too  cold  to  use  the  Tabernacle, 
which,  from  its  vast  size,  cannot  be  artificially  heated. 
The  fragment  of  a  sermon  to  which  we  listened  seemed 
rather  of  a  denunciatory  than  a  benevolent  nature,  and 
turned  upon  the  wrath  of  God  toward  apostates,  and 
the  propriety  of  rooting  out  those  who  had  gone 
astray  after  Amalek.  We  wondered  whether  this 
meant  Ann  Eliza,  but  could  not  determine  ! 

Those  familiar  with  Mormon  doctrines  and  preach 
ing,  although  not  of  the  faith,  aver  that  the  more  usual 
Christian  teaching  of  charity,  humility,  patience  and 
forgiveness  of  enemies  is  rarely  if  ever  made  the  leading 
topic  of  any  sermon  ;  but  that,  as  the  Mormons  are  fond 
of  likening  themselves  to  tne  children  of  Israel  and  a 
People  Peculiar  to  the  Lord,  their  texts  and  lessons  are 


74  THE    CITY    OF    THE    SAINTS. 

generally  drawn  from  the  denunciations  of  the  Proph 
ets,  whom  they  interpret  with  a  literalness  not  found 
in  other  forms  of  faith. 

The  next  morning  we  sallied  forth  to  view  the  City 
of  the  Saints,  with  the  same  odd  sort  of  excitement  and 
vague  expectation  one  must  experience  in  Constanti 
nople  or  Tangiers,  or  several  other  places  which  stand 
out  in  a  traveler's  memory  as  typical  of  a  state  of 
society  utterly  alien  to  his  own.  Nothing  peculiar 
appeared  at  the  outset,  however,  except  that  here  for 
the  first  time  did  we  perceive  about  the  poorer  houses 
that  attempt  at  decoration,  that  consciousness  that  "  a 
thing  of  beauty  is  a  joy  forever,"  which  makes  the 
difference  between  poverty  and  squalor ;  which  shows 
that  penury  has  neither  broken  the  spirit  nor  crushed 
out  the  taste  for  refinement.  Every  house,  however 
small  or  poor,  had  its  little  garden  in  front,  filled  with 
flowering  shrubs  or  plants,  many  of  them  fruit  trees,  in 
this  Spring  time  of  the  year  rosy  or  white  with  bloom. 
Everywhere  was  thrift,  care,  the  evidence  of  hard  work, 
and  a  pride  of  ownership  ;  and  oddly  enough,  these 
homes  of  rigid,  yet  tasteful  and  dignified  poverty, 
reminded  me  of  nothing  so  much  as  a  Shaker  village, 
visited  not  long  since — a  place  where  nobody  was  rich, 
nobody  poor,  nobody  idle,  nobody  overworked,  and 
where  a  certain  prim  love  of  the  beautiful  everywhere 
gilded  the  necessity  of  the  useful.  Is  it  that  a  strong 
religious  conviction  pervading  a  community,  a  religion 
that  permeates  every  phase  of  life,  has  this  effect  upon 
outward  forms  of  living  ?  "We  present  the  question  to 
the  psychologists.  As  for  the  better  houses,  they  were 


CLEANLINESS    OF    SALT    LAKE    CITY.  75 

many  of  them  elegant,  all  of  them  comely  and  substan 
tial  ;  mostly  built  of  yellow  brick  or  stuccoed  with 
yellow  or  white  plaster,  very  few  of  wood;  all  had 
their  own  grounds,  large  or  small,  well  cared  for, 
and  thoroughly  irrigated  by  means  of  the  streams  of 
pure,  bright  water  running  along  each  street,  and 
applied  through  branch  ducts  as  required,  to  private 
grounds.  These  roadside  streams  also  water  the  roots 
of  the  cottonwood  and  poplar  trees  which  line  the  street 
on  either  side,  and  keep  the  grass  vividly  bright  and 
green.  There  was  no  dust,  no  mud,  no  litter  of  any 
kind.  Arrived  at  the  main  street,  we  noticed  the  Mer 
chant's  Co-operative  Union  Building,  or  "  Co-op,"  as  it 
is  facetiously  and  popularly  termed,  with  its  inscription 
of  "  Holiness  to  the  Lord,"  in  black  and  gold  above 
the  door ;  a  profusion  of  neat  shops  of  all  sorts,  but 
more  especially  well-stocked  and  flourishing  millinery 
establishments,  and  several  fine  book  and  stationery 
shopr 

Beaching  the  principal  photographer,  who  was  an 
old  acquaintance  of  our  Chief 's,  we  paid  him  a  visit, 
and  found  a  good  assortment  of  views  of  the  city  and 
its  surroundings,  and  a  very  civil  and  gentleman-like 
proprietor,  who  seemed  quite  amiably  willing  to  impart 
the  information  we  were  thirsting  to  obtain.  He  freely 
admitted  himself  to  be  a  Mormon,  somewhat  defiantly 
stating  that  he  had  nailed  his  colors  to  the  mast.  A 
picture  of  the  Beehive,  Brigham  Young's  principal 
residence,  easily  led  to  a  discussion  of  Mormon  houses 
and  Mormon  domesticity.  But  our  new  friend  consid 
ered  it  very  unlikely  that  we,  even  the  women  of  the 


76  SENSITIVENESS    OF  MORMON  LADIES. 

party,  would  be  able  to  "interview"  any  of  the  upper 
class  of  Mormon  wives.  "The  ladies  here  don't  like 
being  made  subjects  of  curiosity,"  said  he.  "Their 
homes  are  just  as  sacred  to  them  as  yours  in  the  East 
are  to  you,  and  they  are  very  sensitive  about  being 
questioned."  Then  he  cited,  evidently  as  a  timely 
warning,  the  case  of  a  titled  English  lady  recently 
passing  through  Utah,  and  remarkable,  as  our  photo 
grapher  seemed  to  think,  in  possessing  more  than  the 
usual  amount  of  cheek — "  as  much  cheek  as  a  govern 
ment  mule  " — some  artistic  effect  of  which  feature 
probably  attracted  his  professional  eye.  This  lady,  as 
it  seemed,  possessed  the  troublesome  characteristic  of 
"wanting  to  know,  you  know,"  and  attempted  to  gratify 
it  in  an  artless  manner  by  calling  upon  several  of  the 
Mormon  ladies,  and  putting  them  to  their  catechism 
with  the  vigorous  candor  of  a  parish  visitor.  The 
consequence  was  that  Miladi  got  terribly  snubbed, 
and  what  was  perhaps  worse,  learned  nothing,  and  went 
away  next  day  to  make  up  her  notes  of  travel  as  best 
she  could.  Having  furnished  this  little  narrative,  our 
friend  paused  significantly,  with  a  "  Hcecf alula  docet  " 
air,  and  then  indulgently  added  :  "  But  I'll  give  you  an 
introduction  to  the  leading  Mormon  editor  of  the  city, 
and  you  can  see  what  he  will  do  for  you."  Then  he 
showed  us  some  portraits  of  the  various  Mesdames 
Young,  first  of  the  recreant  Ann  Eliza,  who  "  bolted," 
as  he  phrased  it,  upon  the  very  day  the  President  was 
about  to  present  her  with  the  title-deeds  of  the  house 
she  lived  in.  "And  here's  the  house,"  continued  he, 
producing  a  picture  of  a  neat  little  villa ;  "  that's  the 


BBIGHAM    YOUNG'S    FAVORITE    WIFE.  77 

hovel  she  talks  about  in  the  East."  "When  President 
Young  was  informed  that  she  was  gone,  or  at  least  had 
removed  with  all  her  effects  to  the  Walker  House — the 
Gentile  hotel,  you  know — he  just  opened  his  desk,  took 
out  the  "title -deeds,"  and,  tearing  them  across,  said, 
quietly :  "  So  much  saved !" 

The  next  picture  represented  a  lady  of  about  thirty, 
well  dressed,  a  little  stout,  with  a  strong,  sensible, 
pleasing  face,  and  something  of  a  stylish  air.  This  was 
Mrs.  Amelia,  said  to  be  Mr.  Young's  favorite  wife,  but 
this  assumption  our  photographer  scouted  indignantly. 
"  That  was  only  Eastern  talk  ;  there  was  a  lot  of  non 
sense  talked  in  the  East  about  the  Mormons,  and  Ann 
Eliza  had  set  a  whole  raft  of  stories  afloat,  but  all  about 
it  was  that  Mrs.  Amelia  was  a  born  nurse,  and  had 
taken  care  of  Mr.  Young  through  some  bad  times,  and 
so  he  always  took  her  traveling  with  him  and  liked  to 
have  her  near  him  at  home."  To  a  delicate  suggestion 
about  selling  Amelia's  picture,  the  artist  shook  his 
head ;  no,  he  couldn't  sell  that  or  the  picture  of  any 
private  lady.  He  had  been  offered  a  hundred  dollars 
for  it,  but  it  was  not  for  sale.  "We  appreciated  the  fine 
feeling  of  this  little  speech,  and  mentally  wondered 
how  long  our  friend's  position  in  Salt  Lake  City  would 
be  tenable  if  he  offended  Mrs.  Amelia,  and  whether  a 
hundred  dollars  would  make  up  his  loss  in  that  case. 
On  the  whole,  we  concluded  that  he  was  a  wise  as 
well  as  an  amusing  and  instructive  photographer,  and 
so  took  our  leave. 

The   editor   of  the   Mormon   paper  proved  a  very 
intelligent  and  cultured  man,  and  after  a  little  talk  he 


78  MANUFACTURES    OF   MORMON    WOMEN. 

escorted  us  to  see  some  of  the  lions  of  the  place,  first  to 
the  "Woman's  Union,"  a  large  establishment,  whero 
the  work  of  the  women  of  Utah  is  collected  and  offered 
for  sale.  It  is  tinder  the  charge  of  a  lady  called  Miss 
Snow — although  she  is  one  of  Brigham  Young's  wives 
— two  of  his  daughters,  and  Mrs.  Davis.  The  large 
room  on  the  ground  floor  was  decorated  with  the 
American  flag  and  three  large  mottoes  done  in  white 
on  a  blue  ground,  to  wit : 

"Knowledge  is  Power.'* 
"In  Union  is  Strength." 
"Success  to  Industry." 

The  goods  consisted  of  every  sort  of  home  manufacture  : 
clothes  of  all  descriptions,  shoes,  bonnets,  straw  hats, 
artificial  flowers,  laces,  including  some  beautiful 
wrought  Honiton,  and  a  piece  of  the  first  silk  manu 
factured  in  Utah  —  a  silver -gray  fabric,  resembling 
Japanese  silk.  Miss  Snow  presently  entered,  and 
greeted  us  pleasantly  ;  she  is  a  lady  considerably  past 
middle  age,  with  a  good  and  pleasing  face,  a  quiet, 
refined  manner,  although  cold  and  reserved,  and  a  very 
precise  and  deliberate  mode  of  speech.  She  seemed 
perfectly  willing  to  talk  upon  any  subject  which  we 
introduced,  and  quite  able  to  give  information  in  any 
direction  indicated.  She  had  been  abroad,  and  told  me 
she  took  cocoons  of  their  own  raising  to  Palestine,  to 
compare  with  those  of  that  country,  and  that  the  Utah 
article  was  pronounced  fully  equal  to  that  of  Oriental 
growth.  She  quietly  acknowledged  herself  the  princi 
pal  mover  in  the  Woman's  Union,  the  object  of  which 


TRAINING     THE   RISING    GENERATION.  79 

is  to  encourage  self  reliance,  and  perfect  independence 
of  the  outside  world,  and  added,  with  a  smile  of  con 
scious  strength  and  power:  "We  consider  ourselves 
among  the  finest  women  in  the  world,  and  aim  to  com 
pete  with  our  sisters  elsewhere  in  every  pursuit  and 
every  branch  of  education."  "Women,  she  said,  had  as 
much  interest  as  man  in  the  prosperity  of  the  territory, 
and  their  rights  and  privileges  were,  equal.  At  the  two 
colleges  of  Utah  the  course  of  study  was  the  same  for 
male  and  female  students,  and  the  progress  of  the 
latter  was  fully  equal  to  the  former.  Education  had 
necessarily  been  neglected  among  them  in  the  first 
hard  years  of  struggle,  when  every  one  had  to  labor  for 
the  means  of  bare  existence ;  but  now  good  schools 
were  established  everywhere,  and  the  rising  generation 
would  be  admirably  trained. 

In  this  connection  she  spoke  of  the  hard  journey 
across  the  plains  thirty  years  ago,  when,  on  the  twelfth 
of  June,  leaving  the  place  where  Omaha  now  stands, 
they  did  not  arrive  at  Salt  Lake  until  the  second 
day  of  October. 

We  touched  slightly  upon  the  peculiar  institution 
of  Utah,  and  I  inquired  if  the  various  wives  of  one 
husband  got  along  amicably  among  themselves,  to 
which  she  decisively  replied :  "  Perfectly  so,  their 
religion  inculcates  it ;  and  besides,  their  work  is  so 
large,  and  their  aims  so  high,  that  they  have  no  time 
and  no  capacity  for  petty  jealousies." 

While  talking  we  turned  over  some  of  the  books  by 
Mormon  authors  for  sale  here,  and  noticed  a  volume  of 
Yoyages  by  Miss  Snow,  and  also  a  collection  of  poems, 


80  MISS    SNOW  AND    HER    CHOSEN   PEOPLE. 

but  she  herself  was  more  interesting  than  her  books, 
and  seemed  so  strong  and  earnest,  and  full  of  ideas  and 
aspirations,  and  plans  for  the  widest  good  of  her  chosen 
people,  that  we  left  her  with  real  regret. 


CO-OPEKATIVE  UNION  BUILDING,  SALT  LAKE  CITY.     Page  75. 


CHAPTEH  vnr. 

A     FIRST-CLASS     MORMON     INTERIOR. 

FROM  the  Woman's  Union  our  cicerone  led  us  to 
the  Deseret  National  Bank,  a  substantial  brick 

building,  and  presented  us  to  Elder  H ,  president  of 

that  institution,  and  twice  Representative  from  Utah  to 
Washington,  where  he  gave  such  satisfaction  to  his 
constituents  as  to  win  a  most  enthusiastic  welcome  on 
his  return.  We  found  him  a  fine-looking  man,  with 
marvelously  expressive  eyes,  and  as  courtly  and  impos 
ing  in  manner  as  appearance,  and  spent  a  pleasant 
hour  as  his  guests  in  the  bank  parlor. 

Mr.  H spoke  freely  upon  Utah  matters,  especial 
ly  of  its  faith,  professing  himself  a  Mormon,  but  not  a 
polygamist ;  having  always,  as  he  said,  respected  his 
wife's  feelings  too  much  to  take  another.  In  fact,  he 
declared  very  few  polygamic  marriages  now  took  place 
in  the  city,  although  still  common  enough  through  the 
rest  of  the  Territory.  He  did  not  hear  of  more  than 
half  a  dozen  in  the  course  of  the  year,  and  it  was  amus 
ing  to  find  this  decadence  from  the  primitive  custom 
attributed  to  the  same  cause  which  excuses  our  city 
youth  from  taking  matrimonial  chains  upon  them 
selves,  viz. :  the  increased  cost  of  living,  and  growing 
demands  of  the  fair  sex.  Formerly,  as  the  Elder 
gravely  asserted,  polygamy  had  been  a  different  matter, 
more  patriarchal  in  its  nature  than  was  now  possible ; 


82  ELEVATION    OF   MORMON    WOMEN. 

the  women  had  been  content  with  the  simple  necessa 
ries  of  life,  and  each  had  borne  her  share  in  the 
hardships  and  toil  of  the  infant  settlement,  but  now — 

"But  now,"  we  interposed,  "the  railway  has  come 
and  brought  a  whole  train  of  French  milliners  and 
fashion  plates." 

"Yes,"  replied  he,  with  a  good-humored  twinkle  of 
the  eye,  "  harbingers  of  a  higher  civilization  I  suppose 
you  think." 

"  Yes,"  we  responded,  boldly,  "  for  before  them  the 
evil  of  polygamy  will  melt  away  as  it  never  would 
have  done  before  either  civil  or  moral  legislation. 
Don't  you  think  so?" 

"  Perhaps,  perhaps,"  replied  the  Elder,  stirring  a 
little  uneasily  in  his  chair,  and  adding,  cautiously, 
"that  is,  if  it  be  an  evil  at  all." 

He  then  spoke  of  the  position  of  women  in  Utah  as 
being  unusually  elevated  and  respected;  their  actions 
were  free,  their  opinions  sought  and  regarded,  and  they 
had  been  offered  the  privilege  of  a  vote  on  polygamy, 
which,  however,  they  had  declined  to  accept ;  they  had 
the  right  of  legislation  in  school  matters,  however,  and 
could  obtain  almost  any  position  they  chose  to  claim 
and  try  for.  Sounding  him  upon  the  subject  of 
domestic  peace  in  polygamic  families,  we  received 
much  the  same  answer  as  from  Miss  Snow ;  certainly 
the  wives  harmonized,  why  should  they  not  ?  Each,  if 
she  chose,  had  her  own  house,  where  she  lived  in  perfect 
privacy  with  her  children ;  or,  if  they  preferred,  all 
combined  in  one  united  household.  Pushing  the 
matter  home,  we  inquired  if  he  would  be  willing  to  see 


AEE    MORMON   WOMEN  A   JEALOUS   EACE ?  83 

his  own  daughters  become  wives  of  husbands  already 
married,  and  he  replied  he  should  not  seek  to  control 
their  own  choice  in  the  matter.  He  might  prefer  to  see 
them  the  sole  wives  of  their  husbands,  but  it  would  be 
as  God  willed  and  they  chose. 

At  this  moment  a  genial,  hearty  gentleman  entered 

the  room,  and  Mr.  H at  once  presented  him.  He 

is,  as  we  afterward  learned,  one  of  the  principal  mer 
chants  of  Salt  Lake  City,  and  a  man  of  large  means; 
an  Englishman,  with  the  home  accent  still  lingering  in 
his  merry  voice,  but  quite  free  from  English  reserve 
and  offishness ;  joining  at  once  in  the  conversation,  and. 
speaking  with  enthusiasm  of  the  beauty  and  charm  of 
the  women  of  Salt  Lake  City. 

"Madame  wishes  to  know  if  they  are  a  jealous 

race  ?"  said  Mr.  H ,  with  evident  enjoyment  of  the 

idea  of  seeing  some  one  else  put  through  the  same 
inquisitorial  questionings,  ordinary  and  extraordinary, 
to  which  he  had  just  been  subjected. 

"  Jealous !"  exclaimed  Mr.  J ,  "  not  they ;  they 

have  no  time  for  such  nonsense.  They  have  their 
houses,  their  children,  their  sewing,  their  affairs  to 
attend  to,  and  if  idleness  is  the  mother  of  mischief, 
occupation  is  the  parent  of  contentment.  Look  at  my 
wife,  for  instance  :  to  be  sure,  she  is  an  only  wife,  but  if 
she  were  not,  what  time  would  she  have  for  jealous 
fancies,  with  a  large  household,  a  family  of  fourteen 
children,  their  governess,  and  four  servants  to  look 
after?" 

"  Fourteen  children !"  we  echoed,  involuntarily. 

"Yes"  replied  Mr.  J ,  with  pious   fervor;  "we 


84  "  SEALING,"  A   MERE   MARRIAGE    OF    TIME. 

hold,  with  the  psalmist,  that  *  children  are  an  heritage 
of  the  Lord,'  and  man  can  have  no  surer  sign  of  God's 
approval  and  kindness  than  a  large  family." 

Mr.  J mentioned  that  he  had  been  seventeen 

years  in  this  country,  that  he  was  the  only  Mormon  in 
his  family,  and  that  he  had  never  regretted  the  choice 
he  had  made  in  joining  the  sect.  A  short  time  since 
he  took  his  two  elder  daughters  and  revisited  the  old 
country,  spending  some  time  upon  the  Continent,  and 
bringing  home  a  French  governess  for  the  younger 
children. 

We  spoke  of  Miss  Snow,  her  remarkable  intelli 
gence  and  attainments,  and,  after  heartily  endorsing 
our  encomiums,  he  remarked  that  she  was  one  of 
Brigham  Young's  wives,  but  that  she  was  merely 
"  sealed  to  him  for  time,'*  having  been  the  widow  of 
Joseph  Smith,  whose  wife  she  would  be  in  the  next 
world.  In  fact,  she  had  long  since  ceased  to  live 
among  the  President's  wives,  but  maintained  the  most 
friendly  relations  with  him  and  them.  Inquiring  into 
the  nature  of  this  temporary  contract,  we  were  informed 
that  a  woman  once  sealed  or  married  to  the  man  of 
her  choice,  was  his  to  all  eternity.  So  long  as  he  lived 
she  could  think  of  no  other  partner,  but  after  his  death 
she  might,  if  she  chose,  seal  herself  to  another  for  the 
remainder  of  her  mortal  existence  ;  a  mere  marriage  of 
time,  not  at  all  to  the  prejudice  of  those  eternal  rela 
tions  to  be  resumed  at  her  own  decease.  One  point 
striking  us  very  forcibly  in  this  exposition  was  the 
positive  faith  in  another  existence,  implied  by  making 
such  definite  arrangements  for  its  duties  and  pleasures. 


MR.  YOUNG  A  PATRON    OF    THE   DRAMA.  85 

Divorce  is  possible  under  the  Mormon  law,  but  is 
seldom  applied  for,  and  never  granted  except  in  case  of 
ill-treatment,  flagrant  neglect,  or  the  gravest  offenses, 
and  is,  not  considered  creditable  to  either  party. 

Mr.  J closed  by  inviting  us  to  call  and  see  his 

wife  in  the  afternoon,  which  we  gladly  promised  to  do ; 
feeling  that  at  last  our  fondest  hopes  were  about  to  be 
realized,  and  we  were  actually  to  see  the  interior  of  a 
Mormon  home  and  converse  with  a  Mormon  wife  and 
lady. 

While  waiting  for  the  hour  appointed  for  this  call 
we  visited  the  theatre,  where  we  found  Neilson — the 
beautiful — rehearsing.  It  is  about  the  size  of  the  Fifth 
Avenue  Theatre  of  New  York,  neatly,  but  not  very 
expensively,  decorated ;  the  colors  pink  and  gray.  "We 
did  not  see  the  rocking-chair  in  which  Mr. Young  is 
fond  of  sitting  in  one  of  the  aisles  to  witness  the 
performance,  but  two  of  the  four  proscenium  boxes,  we 
were  informed,  belonged  to  him,  and  some  members  of 
his  family  are  generally  to  be  seen  there,  as  he  is  a 
zealous  patron  of  the  drama,  and  encourages  a  large 
attendance.  "We  went  behind  the  scenes,  and  found 
the  green  room  spacious  and  comfortable,  furnished 
with  piano,  sofa,  chairs,  and  a  long  mirror ;  the  dress 
ing  rooms  commodious,  and  the  "star"  chamber 
luxuriously  furnished. 

From  the  theatre  we  drive  to  Mr.  J 's  house,  a 

really  superb  villa;  the  fine  sweep  of  the  carriage 
drive  cuts  a  lawn  of  emerald- green  velvet,  and  is 
bordered  with  symmetrical  beds  of  tulips,  geraniums,  and 
other  brilliant  flowers,  and  although  uof  so  remarkable 


86  THE    TRUE  WOMAN  VIEW  OF   POLYGAMY. 

here  as  in  the  humbler  houses,  we  could  but  admire 
the  exquisite  neatness  and  precision  of  .everything  we 
saw.  Upon  the  doorstep  we  are  met  by  our  genial 
host,  who  conducts  us  into  a  drawing-room  noticeable 
in  any  city  for  its  elegant  and  tasteful  furniture,  orna 
ments  and  mirrors,  and  presents  us  to  Mrs.  J—  — ,  a 
fine-looking,  dignified  English  matron,  surrounded  by 
several  of  her  children — two  young  ladies  elegantly 
dressed  and  perfect  in  manner  ;  a  young  girl  of  twelve, 
Tery  pretty  and  stylish  in  her  polonaise  of  brown 
velvet ;  a  little  boy  of  about  three ;  and  a  toddling 
baby,  sweet  and  dainty  in  its  Valenciennes  lace  and 
soft  blue  ribbons.  The  other  nine  children  did  not 
appear. 

Mrs.  J conversed  much  as  any  other  cultivated 

lady  might  do,  upon  all  sorts  of  subjects,  until  the 
gentlemen  departed,  en  masse,  for  a  visit  to  the  stables 
and  conservatories,  when,  with  much  circumspection, 
we  introduced  the  subject  of  polygamy,  and  instead  of 
being  snubbed,  as  our  photographer  warned  us  would 
be  the  case,  found  our  hostess  as  pleasantly  willing  to 
converse  upon  that  as  all  other  subjects ;  giving  us  such 
information  as  we  asked  in  a  quiet  and  courteous  man 
ner,  saying  neither  too  much  nor  too  little,  but  holding 
herself  so  accurately  within  the  golden  mean  as  to  give 
all  her  words  an  additional  force  and  weight ;  convinc 
ing  us  that  here,  at  least,  we  had  the  true  woman  view 
of  this  great  and  vexed  question.  And  still  the  quiet 
assertion  was  made  that  there  was  little  or  no  dissen 
sion  between  the  wives  ot  the  same  household,  but  that 
all  united  harmoniously  in  the  effort  to  make  the  home 


POLYGAMY   DISCUSSED.  87 

a  happy  one  for  the  husband  and  a  good  one  for  his 
children. 

Remarking,  somewhat  impetuously,  that  we  could 
scarcely  imagine  such  a  state  of  things,  and  that  we 
were  sure  no  "  Gentile  "  wives  could  live  thus  together, 
Mrs.  J replied,  with  quiet  significance  : 

"  We  control  ourselves,  and  mate  it  a  duty  to  sub 
due  all  jealousies  and  tempers  that  would  injure  the 
harmony  of  our  home." 

"But  are  there  no  women  among  you  of  such  dis 
position  and  temperament  that  they  cannot  endure  a 
rival  in  the  affections  of  their  husband?"  we  asked; 

and  Mrs.  J replied,  with  an  exceedingly  subtle 

smile  : 

"If  there  are,  and  if  they  have  accepted  polygamy 
as  part  of  their  religion,  that  religion  steadily  trains 
them  in  the  duties  it  involves,  and  enables  them  to 
carry  out  whatever  it  teaches." 

"  But  does  not  the  favorite  wife  assume  authority 
and  privileges  which  the  others  are  slow  to  admit  ?" 
we  persistently  interrogated. 

"  Oh,  there  are  no  favorites,"  replied  the  lady,  con 
fidently,  and  then  added,  a  little  dubiously :  "  or 
at  least  there  should  be  none  ;  it  is  especially  incul 
cated,  that  if  the  husband  has  any  preference  he 
should  be  very  careful  not  to  show  it ;  and  if  a  wife 
suspects  herself  to  be  the  object  of  more  than  her  due 
share  of  regard  she  should  keep  the  suspicion  strictly 
to  herself." 

"  That  is  a  very  fine  theory,  Mrs.  J ,"  we  declared, 

laughingly,  as  we  remembered  Mr.  J 's  declaration  of 


88  UTAH  WOMEN    ON  A  PAH    WITH    THE    MEN. 

monogamy.  "  But  you  have  never  tried  it  personally, 
and  cannot  be  sure." 

"Yes,  but  I  have  tried  it,  and  am  very  sure,"  replied 
our  hostess,  as  courteously  as  ever,  and,  turning  with  an 
affectionate  smile  to  the  eldest  daughter,  she  added  : 
"Jennie's  mother  and  I  lived  in  the  same  house  for 
years,  and  were  always  the  best  of  friends !" 

The  confusion  at  finding  into  what  a  horrible 
blunder  we  had  been  led,  baffles  all  description.  No 
doubt  our  hostess  perceived  it,  but  with  perfect  tact 
she  went  on  speaking,  without  waiting  for  questioning, 
and  we  presently  recovered  ourself  enough  to  listen. 
"The  women  of  Utah,"  she  said,  "  considered  them 
selves  quite  on  a  par  with  the  men  in  all  respects,  with 
equal  interests  and  equal  labor  to  perform  for  the 
welfare  of  the  colony,  education  of  the  children,  social 
growth  and  public  refinement  and  elevation.  These 
great  aims  naturally  enlarged  and  strengthened  their 
whole  nature,  and  not  only  could  they  live  happily  and 
peaceably  with  each  other,  but  they  were  faithful  and 
devoted  wives  and  intelligent  and  affectionate  mothers. 
It  is  the  duty  or  the  privilege  of  the  first  wife  to  present 
the  new-comer  to  her  husband,  and  if  she  is  an  elderly 
and  motherly  person,  she  generally  helps  and  guides  the 
junior,  instructs  her  in  household  matters,  advises  her 
in  the  conduct  of  her  new  life,  and  sustains  and  encour 
ages  her  in  every  way.  And  I  speak  of  these  matters 

from  experience,"  added  Mrs.  J ,  quietly,  as  she 

finished  this  little  dissertation ;  and  the  writer,  still  a 
little  nervous  in  pursuing  this  branch  of  the  subject 
with  her,  turned  to  the  young  ladies,  and  inquired  what 


THE    MORMONS'  RELIGION    THEIR    STRONGHOLD.      89 

were  their  views  of  Mormon  life  and  Mormon  marriages. 
They  replied  readily  enough,  and  with  the  gay  insouci 
ance  of  youth,  that  they  enjoyed  themselves  very  much 
at  Salt  Lake,  for  the  present  at  least ;  and  as  to  the 
future,  perhaps  they  should  never  marry  at  all,  although 
it  was  evident  they  had  no  horror  of.  polygamic  union. 
Their  mother,  however,  remarked,  that  although  she 
should  never  interfere  with  the  girls'  own  inclinations, 
she  should  prefer  to  see  them  each  the  only  wife  of  a 
good  husband.  If  otherwise,  she  had  no  doubt  their 
religion  would  prove  strong  enough  to  enable  them  to 
bear  cheerfully  and  patiently  whatever  might  be  in 
store  for  them. 

The  gentlemen  here  returned,  and  the  conversation, 
took  a  different  turn,  but  in  recalling  it  minutely  after 
ward,  it  seemed  to  me  that  in  spite  of  all  Mrs.  J—  — 's 
insistance  upon  the  enviable  position  of  Mormon 
women,  and  the  charms  and  advantages  of  their  insti 
tutions,  the  keynote  of  the  whole  system,  so  far  as  it 
related  to  women,  was  struck  when  she  said : 

"It  is  ordained  by  their  religion,  and  their  religion 
enables  them  to  bear  it !" 

Cake  and  champagne  were  served,  and  the  young 
gentleman  of  three  proved  himself  a  hero  in  the  demo 
lition  of  the  former,  somewhat  to  the  distress  of  his 
sister.  One  of  the  young  ladies  cut  us  some  beautiful 
flowers,  and  we  took  leave  after  a  long  and  most 
delightful  call,  feeling 'that  we  had  at  last  gained  some 
reliable  information  and  experience  in  the  ways  of 
Mormon  homes  and  the  feeling  of  intelligent  Mormon 
women. 


90  THE    TABERNACLE   AND     THE    PRESIDENT. 

"  And  now,"  said  the  Chief,  as  we  drove  down  tlie 
pretty  sweep  and  out  at  the  handsome  entrance,  "  we 
have  to  do  the  Tabernacle,  and  pay  our  respects  to  his 
excellency  the  President,  and  we  are  done  with  Utah." 


THE  u  TWINS,"  MAIUPOSA  GROVE. 


CHAPTEK  IX. 

A  LION    THAT  WE     SAW  AND  A  LION     THAT  WE    HEAED. 

FOLLOWING    the    suggestion    of    the    Chief,  we 
hastened  from  Mr.  J 's  residence  to  Temple 

street,  where,  behind  a  plastered  wall  twenty  feet  in 
height,  we  found,  not  that  gigantic  monster  of  architect 
ure,  but  the  foundations  of  the  new  Temple  which  is  to 
replace  it  as  the  scene  of  all  the  functional  rites  and 
ceremonies  of  the  Mormon  Church,  such  as  ordination, 
baptism,  "  sealing  "  or  marriage — both  monogamic  and 
polygamic — and  burial ;  the  Tabernacle  to  be  reserved 
simply  for  preaching.  This  new  building  is  planned  in 
a  very  ornate  and  imposing  style,  and  is  built  from 
white  granite  quarried  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
Territory ;  teams  of  oxen  were  dragging  in  great  blocks 
of  stone,  and  a  score  of  workmen  were  busily  hammer 
ing  them  into  shape  during  our  visit.  But  although 
five  years  and  a  good  deal  of  money  have  already  been 
expended  upon  this  building,  its  walls  are  as  yet  only 
about  ten  feet  above  the  ground,  and  the  date  of  its 
completion  is  not  named.  One  cause,  if  not  the  cause  of 
its  delay,  may  be  found  in  the  fact,  that  it  is  built 
entirely  by  voluntary  contribution,  and  even  Brigham's 
earnest  desire  to  see  the  work  completed  has  not 
brought  in  the  funds  with  sufficient  rapidity  for  any 
very  rapid  results. 

The  Tabernacle  itself,  as  nearly  all  of  us  know  from 


92  DESCRIPTION    OF    THE    TABERNACLE. 

pictures,  if  not  personal  survey,  is  a  huge,  bare,  and 
very  ugly  building,  with  an  oval,  tiled  roof,  brick  pillars, 
and  no  attempt  at  decoration  outwardly.  Inside  it  is 
quite  as  ugly,  but  a  little  less  monotonous,  for  in  the 
centre  is  a  fountain  with  four  couchant  lions  in  plaster 
about  it,  and  from  the  dreary  expanse  of  white  plastered 
ceiling,  certainly  concave,  yet  scarcely  a  dome,  hangs  a 
great  star,  with  pendants  of  artificial  flowers.  Gal 
leries  supported  by  three  rows  of  pillars,  painted 
to  imitate  marble,  extend  along  the  sides,  and  the  whole 
floor  inclines  like  that  of  a  theatre.  The  seating 
capacity  of  the  building  reaches  twelve  thousand,  yet 
so  fine  are  the  acoustic  properties  that  a  speaker 
upon  the  rostrum  is  audible  in  any  part  of  the  house. 
In  this  respect  the  Mormons  claim  the  Tabernacle  to 
be  unsurpassed  by  any  building  in  the  world. 

At  the  end  of  this  great  hall,  two  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  long,  by  one  hundred  and  fifty  wide,  and  eighty  feet 
high,  hung  a  monstrous  blue  banner,  blazoned  with  a 
golden  bee-hive  and  the  inscription : 

"Deseret  Sunday-school  Union." 

At  the  other  end  was  the  great  organ,  of  which  the 
Mormons  are  justly  proud,  as  it  is  said  to  be  only 
second  in  size  to  the  Boston  organ — which  is  taller, 
but  not  quite  so  wide — and  possesses  a  sweetness  of 
tone  really  wonderful  when  the  visitor  is  told  that  it  is 
of  absolute  home  manufacture,  the  wood  and  most  of  the 
other  materials  the  growth  of  Utah,  and  the  plan  and 
construction  are  due  to  an  English  convert  named 
Bidges,  who  prepared  and  built  it  in  the  Tabernacle 


THE    PRESIDENT'S    HOUSE.  93 

It  contains  twelve  hundred  pipes,  and  the  case, 
although  only  of  stained  pine,  is  elegant  in  design. 
Between  the  organ  and  the  auditorium,  as  it  might  b3 
called,  are  the  seats  for  the  elders,  and  the  leaders  of 
the  congregation :  first  and  highest  a  little  desk,  with 
an  ancient  blue  sofa  behind  it,  used  by  Brigham  Young 
and  his  two  councillors ;  below  this  a  long  straight 
bench  and  a  small  semicircular  one,  to  accommodate  the 
twelve  apostles ;  and  below  this  again  a  similar  arrange 
ment,  where  the  elders  sit  and  speak ;  other  seats 
around  the  organ  may  be  used  by  the  choir  and  digni 
taries  of  the  Church.  Altogether,  the  Tabernacle 
impressed  us  as  quite  the  sort  of  placo  where  we  would 
rather  not  spend  the  hours  of  a  rainy  Sunday  in  No 
vember  ;  and  having  conscientiously  looked  it  through 
we  gladly  turned  our  backs  upon  it,  viewed  the  Endow 
ment  House  in  the  same  enclosure,  where  the  ceremo 
nies  of  the  Church  are  celebrated,  and  where  preaching 
went  on  until  the  Tabernacle  was  built,  and  then  went 
to  deliver  a  letter  of  introduction  to  Brigham  Young 
himself,  who  had  signified  his  readiness  to  receive  us  at 
his  office  at  a  fixed  hour,  now  approaching. 

We  found  the  President's  houses  and  other  build 
ings  enclosed  by  a  high  stone  wall,  well  filled-in  with 
adobe,  with  arched  gateways  and  wooden  gates  before 
each  building ;  over  that  leading  to  the  factories, 
stables,  etc.,  is  a  double  arch,  surmounted  by  a  beehive 
in  the  clasp  of  a  monstrous  eagle.  The  largest  building, 
occupied  by  a  dozen  or  so  of  the  Mesdames  Young,  is 
also  distinguished  by  a  beehive  over  the  door,  and  is 
called  the  "  Beehive  House."  The  other  principal 


91  MOHAMMEDANISM    AND    MORMONISM. 

residence  is  called  tlie  Lion  House,  and  Mr.  Young 
generally  breakfasts  at  the  one  and  takes  dinner  or  tea 
at  the  other,  except  when  he  visits  either  of  his  wives 
living  in  a  house  by  herself;  for  each  wife,  we  wero 
informed,  had  the  title-deeds  of  a  house  of  her  own,  if 
she  chose  to  accept  the  documents,  and  several  of  them 
having  rural  tastes  live  upon  farms  a  short  distance 
from  Salt  Lake  City,  and  raise  vegetables,  etc.,  for  the 
tables  of  the  others. 

The  schoolhouse  for  the  President's  seventy  children 
stands  next  the  Beehive,  and  all  these  buildings, 
finished  in  smooth  yellow  plaster,  with  white  trimmings 
and  green  blinds,  are  crowded  close  behind  the  high 
stone  wall,  shielding  them  from  the  street ;  in  fact,  we 
could  think  of  nothing  but  the  closely  guarded  seraglios 
of  some  Turkish  Prince,  and  an  odd  desire  to  investi 
gate  the  likeness  and  differences  of  Mohammedanism 
and  Mormonism,  the  two  polygamic  religions  of  the 
earth,  seized  upon  the  writer,  and  may  yet  insist  on 
gratification.  Following  this  vagary  of  the  mind  came 
an  overpowering  sense  of  the  rapidity  with  which  this 
poor  old  world  of  ours  is  losing  the  romance  of  her 
youth,  and  how  realistic  is  the  spirit  of  her  present 
epoch.  In  the  days  when  the  "Arabian  Nights "  were 
written,  or  rather  orally  handed  down,  what  rapture  it 
would  have  been  to  find  one's  self  inside  the  precincts  of 
the  Harem  of  Haroun  el  Easchid,  or  even  of  the  King 
of  Oude  ;  what  heart-throbbings  of  excitement,  what 
thrills  of  mysterious  delight  one  can  imagine,  or  can 
remember  one's  self  capable  of  imagining.  But  change 
the  scene  from  Stamboul  or  Hmdostan  to  these  United 


AMELIA'S  PALACE.  95 

States  of  America,  Territory  of  Utah;  for  Haroun  the 
Magnificent  or  the  Royalty  of  Oude  substitute  Mr. 
Brigham  Young ;  for  Zoraide,  Zuleika  and  Dinorzade, 
read  Ann  and  Harriet  and  Susan  ;  and  it  will  be  more 
difficult  to  write  a  Thousand  and  One  American  Nights' 
Entertainments  than  a  new  bible  called  the  Book  of 
Mormon. 

But  apologizing  for  the  digression,  let  us  return  to 
our  tour,  and  look  in  at  the  Tithing  House,  whither  in 
true  biblical  style,  the  people  come,  year  by  year, 
bringing  literal  tithes  of  all  they  possess,  of  whatever 
nature,  and  pay  them  into  the  common  treasury.  But 
the  finest  building  within  many  hundred  miles,  perhaps, 
is  the  Amelia  Palace,  a  really  magnificent  house,  nearly 
finished,  and  designed  for  the  wife  whom  our  photo 
grapher  sternly  denies  to  be  the  favorite,  and  whose 
name  it  bears.  It  is  really  a  splendid  edifice. 

Having  looked  at  everything  from  the  outside,  we 
entered  the  Office,  a  large  unattractive  room,  with  a 
private  sanctum  railed  off  at  the  end,  plainly  furnished 
as  a  business  room,  and  hung  with  portraits  of  the 
founders  and  leaders  of  Mormonism  ;  among  others 
that  of  Joseph  Smith,  who  may  be  called  the  Father  of 
that  religion,  although  it  is  unfortunate  that  so  blindly 
was  it  revealed  to  him,  that  one  of  the  first  laws  laid 
down  by  him  as  an  inspired  direction  to  himself  and 
his  followers,  was  a  stern  prohibition  of  polygamy  or 
concubinage,  and  his  name  is  still  on  record  as  a  Presi 
dent  of  the  Church  of  Latter  Day  Saints  in  Nauvoo, 
Lapeer  County,  Michigan,  excommunicating  a  certain 
Hiram  Brown  for  preaching  polygamy  and  "other 


96  INTERVIEW   WITH    MR.  YOUNG. 

false  and  corrupt  doctrine*';  but  in  three  years  from 
that  time  Smith  and  nearly  all  the  Mormon  leaders 
were  living  in  authorized  and  undenied  polygamy. 
But  leaving  the  vexed  question  of  Smith's  first  and 
second  revelations,  and  the  glaring  inconsistencies  of 
their  record,  which  must  be  thorns  in  the  side  of  those 
whose  duty  it  is  to  uphold  and  explain  Mormonism,  we 
will  speak  of  its  present  apostle,  President  (of  the 
Church)  Young,  whom  we  found  standing  in  the  middle 
of  his  Office  to  receive  us,  with  an  expression  of  weary 
fortitude  upon  his  face,  and  a  perfunctoriness  of  man 
ner,  suggesting  that  parties  of  Eastern  visitors,  curios 
ity  seekers,  and  interviewers  might  possibly  have 
become  a  trifle  tedious  in  Salt  Lake  City  and  the  Office 
of  the  President. 

"  How  do  you  do  !  glad  to  see  you !  pass  on,  ii  you 
please  !"  was  the  salutation,  accompanied  with  a  touch 
of  the  hand  as  each  guest  was  presented  and  named  • 
and  when  nearly  all  had  passed  on  and  sat  down,  and 
the  host  resumed  his  own  seat,  an  awful  pause  fell  upon 
the  assembled  company,  broken  presently  by  a  sonorous 
assertion  from  the  President  that  it  was  a  pleasant 
day.  This  was  eagerly  assented  to  by  the  Chief,  who 
added  that  the  weather  had  been  fine  for  some  days, 
and  the  conversation  flowed  on  in  this  agreeable 
strain  for  some  moments,  during  which  time  we  studied 
the  personal  appearance  of  the  lion  we  had  come  out 
for  to  see.  "We  found  it  both  formidable  and  attractive : 
a  fine,  tall,  well  developed  figure ;  a  fresh,  ruddy 
complexion  almost  befitting  a  young  girl ;  keen  blue 
eyes,  not  telling  too  much  of  what  goes  on  behind 


HIS    SERENITY  AND    EARNESTNESS.  97 

them  ;  a  full  mouth  ;  a  singularly  magnetic  manner  ;  a 
voice  hard  and  cold  in  its  formal  speech,  but  low  and 
impressive  when  used  confidentially ;  altogether  a  man 
of  mark  anywhere,  and  one  whose  wonderful  influence 
over  the  minds  and  purses  of  men,  and  the  hearts  and 
principles  of  women,  can  be  much  more  fully  credited 
after  an  hour's  conversation  than  before. 

Perceiving  that  the  interview  was  but  a  "  function  " 
for  President  Young,  and  one  whose  brevity  would 
doubtless  be  the  soul  of  its  wit,  we  resolved  to  consti 
tute  ourselves  the  Curtius  of  our  party,  and,  approach 
ing  the  sacred  sofa,  remarked  to  the  Chief,  who  was 
seated  thereon,  that  we  would  change  places  with  him 
as  we  had  some  information  to  ask  of  the  President. 

The  Chief  rose  with  suspicious  alacrity,  and  for  the 
first  time  a  gleam  of  interest  shone  in  Brigham's  pale 
blue  eyes  as  he  turned  them  upon  the  bold  intruder, 
whose  first  question  was : 

"  Do  you  suppose,  Mr.  President,  that  I  came  all  the 
way  to  Salt  Lake  City  to  hear  that  it  was  a  fine  day  ?" 

"  I  am  sure  you  need  not,  my  dear,'  was  the  ready 
response  of  this  cavalier  of  seventy-six  years-  "  for  it 
must  be  fine  weather  wherever  you  are !" 

The  conversation  established  after  this  method  went 
upon  velvet,  and,  as  the  rest  of  the  party  began  to  talk 
among  themselves,  presently  assumed  a  confidential 
and  interesting  turn,  and  we  felt  that  what  Mr.  Young 
said  upon  matters  of  Mormon  faith  and  Mormon  prac 
tice  he  said  with  a  sincerity  and  earnestness  not  always 
felt  in  a  man's  more  public  and  general  utterances. 

Glancing  at  Joseph  Smith's  picture,  we  ventured  the 


98  JOSEPH   SMITH   INSPIRED. 

criticism  that  it  did  not  show  any  great  amount  of 
strength,  intelligence,  or  culture.  Mr.  Young  admitted 
the  criticism,  and  said  that  Smith  was  not  a  man  of 
great  character  naturally,  but  that  he  was  inspired  by 
God  as  a  prophet,  and  spoke  at  times  not  from  himself 
but  by  inspiration  ;  he  was  not  a  man  of  education,  but 
received  such  enlightenment  from  the  Holy  Spirit  that 
he  needed  nothing  more  to  fit  him  for  his  work  as  a 
leader.  "  And  this  is  my  own  case  also,"  pursued  Mr. 
Young,  quite  simply.  "My  father  was  a  frontierman, 
unlearned,  and  obliged  to  struggle  for  his  children's 
food  day  by  day,  with  no  time  to  think  of  their  educa 
tion.  All  that  I  have  acquired  is  by  my  own  exertions 
and  by  the  grace  of  God,  who  sometimes  chooses  the 
weak  things  of  earth  to  manifest  His  glory."  This 
want  of  education,  he  went  on  to  say,  was  one  of  the 
greatest  drawbacks  and  trials  to  the  older  generation 
of  Mormons  ;  they  had  been,  almost  without  exception, 
poor  and  unlettered  people,  gathered  from  all  parts  of 
the  world,  and  obliged,  especially  after  their  arrival  in 
Utah,  to  use  every  energy  and  all  their  time  to  make 
productive  and  life-sustaining  homes  from  the  desert 
lands  and  savage  wilderness  into  which  they  had  pene 
trated  ;  since,  only  thus  shut  off  from  other  men  could 
they  hope  to  enjoy  their  religion  and  practices  unmo 
lested. 

''But  all  this  is  over  now,  thank  God !"  ejaculated 
the  President,  with  a  gesture  of  relief.  "Our  homes  are 
made,  our  country  is  prosperous,  and  our  educational 
privileges  are  equal  or  superior  to  any  State  in  the 
Union.  Every  child  six  years  of  age  in  the  territory  can 


ANN   ELIZA,    THE   RECREANT   SPOUSE.  99 

read  and  write,  and  there  is  no  limit  to  what  they  may 
learn  as  they  grow  older."  I  said  that  I  had  spoken  of 
these  matters  with  Miss  Snow,  "  formerly  one  of  your 
wives,"  as  I  somewhat  diffidently  phrased  it,  but  the 
patriarch,  with  a  calm  smile,  amended  the  sentence, 
"  My  wife  still,  if  you  please,  my  dear ;  once  having 
entered  into  that  relationship,  we  always  remain  in 
it,  unless" — and  his  comely  face  clouded — "unless 
under  very  peculiar  circumstances."  We  presumed 
him  to  be  alluding  to  Ann  Eliza,  and  longed  to  hear  his 
views  upon  that  recreant  spouse  ;  but  not  being  gifted 
in  the  manner  so  liberally  ascribed  to  the  titled  English 
lady  by  the  photographer,  we  refrained,  and  only  made 
a  eulogy  upon  Miss  Snow's  attractions  and  merits,  to 
which  her  husband  listened  graciously,  and  heartily 
indorsed,  saying  that  she  was  doing  a  noble  work 
among  the  women  of  Utah,  and  that  he  had  placed  two 
of  his  daughters  under  her  training,  and  had  the 
utmost  confidence  in  her  judgment. 

"We  spoke  of  the  magnificence  of  the  Amelia  Palace, 
and  he  characterized  it  as  "  absurdly  fine  ";  but  when 
we  suggested  that  nothing  could  be  too  much  for  so 
good  a  wife  and  so  lovely  a  woman  as  she  was  said  to 
be, ,he  assented,  and  added,  emphatically,  "She  is  all 
that,  and  more.  Yes,  Amelia  is  a  good  wife,  an  excellent 
wife  and  a  lovely  woman,"  with  other  phrases  expres 
sive  of  tenderness  and  esteem.  "Besides,"  added  the 
writer,  "  the  Beehive,  which  is,  I  believe,  your  present 
residence,  looks  to  me  rather  shabby  for  a  man  of  your 
position;"  but  at  this  he  shook  his  head,  saying: 
"  There  it  is,  there  it  is ;  extravagance  and  ambition 


100  DOMESTIC    HAEMONY. 

come  creeping  in,  and  destroy  the  simplicity  of  the  first 
ideas.  The  Beehive  was  good  enough  for  me,  and  has 
been  so  for  many  a  year,  but  the  world  is  changing — 
changing !" 

"But  nothing  will  change  the  Mormon  ideas  of 
polygamy,  I  suppose,"  suggested  I,  for  having,  by 
means  of  the  parallel  trenches  of  Miss  Snow  and 
Amelia,  approached  the  subject,  I  could  no  longer 
refrain  from  a  direct  attack.  Mr.  Young  glanced  at  me 
keenly,  but  replied,  devoutly  :  "  No,  nothing  can,  since 
it  is  given  to  them  by  the  grace  of  God.  It  is  not  obli 
gatory,  of  course,  but  it  is  a  blessing  and  a  privilege 
vouchsafed  by  Him  to  his  chosen  Saints." 

I  broached  yet  once  more  the  question  of  domestic 
harmony,  and  asked  if  the  children  of  different  mothers 
could  live  amicably  in  the  same  house. 

"  I'll  tell  you  something  about  that,"  replied  Brig- 
ham,  emphatically.  "  My  sister  came  to  make  me  a 
visit  some  years  ^ago,  and  staid  here  until  her  death. 
She  was  not  a  Mormon,  and  did  not  believe  in  poly 
gamy,  but  she  said  she  had  never  seen  a  family  of  four 
children  as  peaceable  and  orderly  and  happy  as  my 
family  of  twenty-four,  as  I  had  then.  She  talked  of  it 
all  the  time,  and  never  ceased  praising  this  domestic 
harmony  of  which  you  speak.  You  see,  they  are  trained 
to  it  by  their  mothers  from  earliest  infancy  ;  it  is  made 
a  part  of  their  religious  teaching." 

"  Yes,  but  who  trains  the  mothers  ?"  inquired  I, 
audaciously ;  "  what  religion  can  make  a  woman  happy 
in  seeing  the  husband  whom  she  loves  devoted  to 
another  wife,  and  one  with  equal  claims  with  herself. 


MORMON   IMPARTIALITY.  101 

Any  woman,  I  should  think,  would  spend  all  her 
strength,  use  every  effort  of  mind,  body  and  soul,  to 
attract  and  retain  his  love,  admiration  and  attention. 
Isn't  it  so,  Mr.  President?" 

Mr.  President  shot  a  keen,  inquisitorial  glance  at 
the  face  beside  him,  and  answered,  meditatively : 

"You  look  like  just  the  woman  to  do  that  sort  of 
thing,  but  fortunately,  perhaps,  there  are  not  many  of 
that  mind  among  us ;  as  a  rule,  our  women  are  content 
in  trying  to  make  their  husbands  happy  and  their 
homes  pleasant  " 

"  Just  what  I  was  suggesting,"  interrupted  I.  "  That 
she  should  make  it  so  pleasant  that  he  would  not  seek 
another." 

He  laughed  a  little,  but  replied : 

"  That  would  be  agreeable  to  the  husband,  no  doubt, 
but  it  would  be  contrary  to  the  teachings  of  the  wife's 
religion.  She  would  not  be  a  good  Mormon  wife  if  sho 
allowed  herself  to  follow  such  a  course,  nor  could  it,  in 
the  end,  make  the  husband  happy  to  alienate  him  from 
those  whom  he  was  bound  to  love  and  care  for  equally. 
For  my  own  part,  I  always  endeavor  to  show  perfect 
impartiality,  and  allow  no  one  division  of  my  family  to 
claim  time  or  thought  too  exclusively." 

"Then  do  Mormon  husbands  feel  no  preferences?" 
asked  I,  ingenuously,  and  laughing  outright  he  re 
plied  : 

"  Well,  perhaps ;  human  nature  is  frail,  but  our 
religion  teaches  us  to  control  and  conceal  those  prefer 
ences  as  much  as  possible,  and  we  do — we  do." 

The   conversation  was   here    interrupted,  but    the 


102  MORMON    CHILDREN  A    FINE   RACE. 

President  himself  resumed  it  by  saying,  in  a  confi 
dential  voice,  that  Utah  was  going,  in  two  or  three 
generations,  to  present  the  finest  specimens  of  men 
and  women  to  be  found  in  this  country,  for  they  would 
spring  from  marriages  of  pure  affinity,  and  a  state  of 
society  impossible  except  under  polygamy.  "Why," 
said  he,  "  I  have  walked  the  streets  of  your  great  city  at 
night  and  my  heart  has  bled  to  see  the  hollow  eyes  and 
painted  cheeks  of  the  women  who  walked  them  too,  and 
who  lead  away  the  young  men  who  are  to  be  the  hus 
bands  of  this  and  the  fathers  of  the  next  generation. 
Not  one  such  woman  is  to  be  found  in  Utah,  and  our 
young  men  are  pure,  our  women  are  virtuous,  and 
our  children  born  free  from  inherited  disease."  In 
fact,  he  said  that  the  children  of  to-day  were  a 
finer  race  than  were  to  be  found  elsewhere,  and  he 
was  going  to  have  all  of  his  photographed  as  speci 
mens  of  childish  beauty. 

"  But  are  all  the  women  of  Utah  sure  to  marry  ?" 
asked  I.  "Suppose  nobody  offers  for  them?" 

"A  woman  feeling  herself  drawn  in  affinity  to  a 
man,  and  feeling  inclined  to  seal  herself  to  him,  should 
make  her  ideas  known  to  him  without  scruple.  It  is 
her  duty,  and  there  can  be  no  indelicacy  in  obeying  the 
voice  of  duty,"  was  the  reply ;  and  with  this  cheerful 
and  hopeful  vision  of  Mormonism  before  our  eyes,  we  at 
last  obeyed  the  urgent  gestures  of  those  who  had  not 
been  so  well  entertained  as  ourself,  and  rose  to  depart, 
Mr.  Young  taking  leave  much  more  impressively  than 
he  had  greeted  us,  and  retaining,  it  is  hoped,  as  pleasant 
a  reminiscence  of  the  interview  as  the  writer. 


DEATH    OF   BRIG  HAM    YOUNG.  103 

A  few  hours  later  we  had  said  good-by  to  Salt  Lake 
City,  with  its  many  strange  and  peculiar  objects  of 
interest,  and  were  steaming  back  to  Ogden,  there  to 
reunite  ourselves  with  the  Great  Pacific  Road. 

[Since  writing  the  above,  news  comes  to  us  of  President  Young's  sudden 
death,  and  all  that  struck  us  as  doubtful,  or  wrong,  or  ludicrous  in  the 
strange  system  of  life  he  upheld,  and  of- which  he  was  the  centre,  disap 
pears  in  tho  solemn  respect  and  silence  with  which  one  remembers  the 
dead  whose  lives  have,  even  for  an  hour,  intersected  our  own.  He  was  an 
honest  and  sincere  believer  in  his  own  theories,  and  lived  up  to  his  own 
convictions  of  duty ;  and  how  many  of  those  who  sneer  at  him  dare  say  the 
same  ?  A  little  selfish  regret  also  mingles  with  the  tribute  we  would  fain 
pay  to  the  memory  of  the  kindly  and  courteous  patriarch,  who  made  us 
welcome,  and  exerted  himself  to  entertain  us  even  when  ill  and  weary  him 
self  ;  for  his  parting  words  to  us  were :  "  And  if  you  put  me  in  a  book, 
promise  at  least  that  you  will  print  me  as  you  have  found  me,  and  not  as 
others  have  described  me."  We  had  tried  to  do  so,  and  now  he  will  never 
know  it ;  never  know  how  kindly  and  respectfully  we  remember  him,  or 
how  honestly  we  regret  his  death.  May  the  world  deal  as  tenderly  with 
his  memory  as  we  would  do,  and  above  his  tomb  let  us  inscribe:  "Judg 
ment  is  Mine,  saith  the  Lord."] 


NEW  MORMON  TEMPLE  AS  IT  WILL  APPEAR  WHEN  COMPLETED. 


s 


CHAPTEE  X. 

PHILOSOPHY,     SHOSHONES     AND     PIUTES. 

OON  after  leaving  Ogden  we  caught  another  fine 
view  of  Salt  Lake,  with  its  bold  promontories,  and 
blue  waves  dashing  upon  them  quite  in  oceanic  style, 
and  listened  to  some  valuable  remarks  from  the  savant 
and  others  as  to  what  will  happen  when  the  waters  of 
this  inland  sea,  always  gradually  rising,  shall  overflow 
their  bed,  and  demand  the  outlet  they  do  not  at  present 
possess.  I  believe  it  was  finally  decided  that  they  were 
either  to  adopt  the  Humboldt  Eiver  as  their  channel, 
or  to  set  up  a  certain  valley,  supposed  to  have  been  an 
arm  of  the  Lake,  and  after  cutting  through  a  certain 
range  of  hills  some  fifty  feet  high,  were  to  flow  into 
Raft  Eiver,  and  so  down  to  the  Pacific. 

"  Apres  nous  le  deluge,"  remarked  I  to  Follette,  and 
we  sympathetically  fell  asleep.  Waking  some  hours 
later,  we  found  ourselves  in  what  is  aptly  called  the 
Great  American  Desert,  and  surely  Sahara  deserves  the 
name  no  better  ;  and  yet,  as  if  to  mark  the  different 
seal  Nature  has  set  upon  the  drowey  Orient  and  the 
laborious  Occident,  the  Eastern  deser*  is  strewn  with 
only  yellow  sand,  of  no  possible  earthly  use  except  to 
inspire  the  venerable  conundrum  about  the  sand-which- 
is-there ;  while  our  American  Desert  is  composed  of 
alkali,  suggesting  at  once  manufactories,  mills,  factories, 
companies,  washing  soda  and  hot  biscuit,  with  an  infin- 


11  UP,    BOYS,   AND   AT    THEM!*  105 

ity  of  uses  not  yet  discovered,  and  not  more  incredible 
than  the  manufacture  of  Lubin's  Extracts  from  coal  tar. 
Hundreds  of  miles  of  alkali  going  to  waste,  my  country 
men,  ye  men  of  enterprise,  of  capital,  of  ingenuity ! 
Up,  my  friends,  in  the  words  of  the  immortal  hero  of 
Waterloo, " Up,  boys,  and  sit  them!"  Before  we  have 
quite  done  up  the  prospectus  of  the  Great  Anti-acid 
and  Baking  Powder  Company,  we  arrive  at  Humboldt 
Canon,  and,  albeit  grown  a  little  critical  and  fastidious 
in  such  matters,  wake  up  to  a  good  deal  of  enthusiasm 
and  interest.  Another  valuable  dissertation  upon  the 
real  destination  of  the  waters  of  the  Humboldt  and 
Truckee  rivers  now  arose;  the  simple  fact  being,  that 
they  pour  their  bright  waters,  year  by  year,  into  a  lake 
unsentimentally  named  the  "Sink  of  the  Humboldt," 
wherein  they  disappear,  and  are  seen  no  more,  except 
in  the  shape  of  great  white  cumuli  of  clouds,  which 
drift  away  overhead  to  carry  the  evaporated  moisture 
back  to  the  springs  whence  it  came,  for  the  "  Sink  of  the 
Humboldt "  has  no  more  outlet  than  has  Salt  Lake,  or 
many  another  Sink  scattered  through  this  Desert ;  and 
after  all,  no  theory  seems  more  feasible  than  that  this 
entire  region  is  the  bed  of  an  ocean  whereon  the  unre- 
membered  people  navigated  their  navies,  lived  upon  the 
islands  which  now  are  mountain  peaks,  and  idly  won 
dered  what  might  be  the  secrets  of  the  submarine 
territory  through  which  to-day  we  travel.  When  in 
some  great  convulsion  of  Nature  this  ocean  disappeared, 
perhaps  overflowing  in  the  Noahcian  Deluge  a  smiling 
and  prosperous  land,  now  called  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
the  Salt  Lake,  or  crevice  deeper  than  the  general 


106  CONTEMPLATING    THE    NOBLE   SAVAGE. 

ocean  bed  was  left,  and  the  Sinks  were  left,  and  the 
vast  barren  plains  covered  with  salt  and  other 
alkalies  were  left,  and  the  great  process  of  evaporation 
dried  up  such  moisture  as  did  not  resolve  itself  into 
rivers  which  seek  these  lower  levels,  and  still  evaporate 
as  much  as  they  receive. 

Quite  fatigued  by  such  a  "breather"  over  the 
hedges  and  ditches,  swamps  and  brambles  of  science 
and  supposition,  the  feeble  female  mind  turns  with 
interest  to  the  contemplation  of  the  noble  savage,  who 
now  begins  to  be  frequent  and  importunate  at  every 
station.  There  are  women  clothed  upon  with  filth  of 
every  shade  and  texture,  woven  or  skinny ;  shawls  and 
handkerchiefs  tied  over  their  heads, 'and  about  half  of 
them  carrying  upon  their  backs  a  formless  and  silent 
burden,  which,  for  filthy  lucre,  they  would  unstrap  and 
bring  forward,  showing  it  to  consist  of  aflat  board,  with 
a  headpiece  projecting  from  the  top  of  it,  and  two  skin 
flaps  attached  to  either  side  of  its  length.  Beneath 
these  flaps  is  strapped  a  pappoose,  its  patient  face  and 
black  bead  eyes  concealed  by  a  piece  of  dirty  cloth 
thrown  over  the  projecting  board  at  the  top.  Of 
course,  the  little  wretch  is  very  uncomfortable,  and  has 
every  reason  to  complain  incessantly ;  but  such  is  the 
force  of  inherited  nature,  or  of  very  early  training,  that 
never  a  sound  is  heard  from  their  grave  little  mouths, 
and  they  probably  have  learned,  thus  early  in  life,  that 
very  little  sympathy,  and  perhaps  considerable  hard 
usage,  would  result  from  any  outcry.  One  young  gentle 
man,  aged  about  six,  the  son  of  a  chief,  was  dressed  in  a 
soldier's  blue  cap  and  a  rabbit-skin  cloak  ;  not  made  of 


HABILIMENTS    OF    "THE   BRAVES:''  107 

skins  sewed  together,  but  cut  in  narrow  strips, 
twisted  into  cords  and  then  used  as  the  warps  of  a 
fabric  whose  woof  is  sinews  or  stout  twine. 

The  "  braves,"  if  they  will  excuse  the  sarcasm  of  so 
calling  them,  were  somewhat  more  repulsive  than  the 
women  and  children,  being  equally  dirty  and  more 
dangerous;  as,  for  instance,  a  sewer  rat  is  more  disa 
greeable  than  a  young  pig.  They  were  dressed  in  blue 
trowsers,  the  gift  of  their  indulgent  Uncle  Samuel, 
striped  blankets  and  low-crowned  stiff  hats,  with 
feathers  stuck  in  the  bands,  and  a  mane  of  coarse,  dirty 
hair  blowing  about  their  shoulders.  Many  of  the 
women  had  their  faces  painted  in  Turner-esque  style 
of  coloring,  and  begged  vociferously  for  money,  which 
they  clutched  with  no  pretense  of  gratitude  or  pleasure. 
The  men  stood  magnificently  aside  while  this  was  going 
on,  and  our  young  lady  who  had  been  vainly  trying  to 
recognize  the  Fennimore  Cooper  Indian  among  these 
squalid  savages,  was  just  exclaiming,  "The  men,  at 
least,  scorn  to  beg !"  when  one  of  the  biggest,  and 
probably  the  bravest  of  the  braves,  stepped  up  to  the 
pappoose  -  laden  squaw,  and,  with  a  persuasive  twist 
of  her  wrist  and  wrenching  open  of  her  hand,  relieved 
her  of  the  burden  of  superfluous  wealth  just  imposed 
upon  her  by  our  Chief. 

"Lo,  the  poor  Indian — squaw!"  quietly  remarked 
the  cynic  of  our  party,  as  the  train  rolled  onward,  and 
the  young  lady  shut  up  "  The  Prairie,"  which  she  had 
been  reading,  and  applied  herself  to  Ouida. 

At  Elko  we  dropped  the  Shoshones  and  began  with 
the  Piutes,  but  did  not  perceive  any  great  difference, 


108  THE   PASSAGE    OF    THE   SIERRAS. 

except  that  the  pappoose  cradles  were,  in  the  latter 
tribe,  made  of  basketwork,  with  a  little  perch  woven 
out  from  the  top  to  cover  the  baby's  face,  instead  of 
the  boards  of  the  Shoshones.  The  fathers  and  mothers 
were  as  dirty  and  disagreeable  in  one  tribe  as  the  other, 
and  the  pappooses  in  both  were  so  numerous,  so  flour 
ishing,  so  fat  and  strong,  as  to  quite  calm  the  fears  of 
those  humanitarians  who  tremble  lest  these  dear 
savages  should  become  extinct  in  the  next  generation. 

Now,  too,  we  began  to  see  the  "  Heathen  Chinee  " 
in  numbers,  and  ill  as  their  odor  may  be  in  Caucasian 
nostrils,  we  must  say  that  their  cleanly,  smooth,  and 
cared-for  appearance  was  very  agreeable  in  contrast 
with  the  wild,  unkempt  and  filthy  red  man. 

Toward  night  we  began  the  passage  of  the  Sierras 
with  the  help  of  an  additional  engine,  for  the  grades 
are  as  steep  as  can  be  traversed,  and  occasionally  the 
train  seems  to  be  plunging  head  first  into  some  Aver- 
nus,  from  which  return  will  be  impossible,  and  anon 
scaling  heights  fitter  for  a  chamois  than  a  locomotive. 
If  one  only  knew  how  to  say  them  there  are  marvelous 
things  to  say  about  this  Pacific  E.  E.,  and  as  the  author 
of  a  nice  book  of  California  travel  naively  says,  "  If 
Americans  were  not  the  most  modest  people  in  the 
world,"  they  would  have,  before  this,  convinced  the 
public  that  no  other  piece  of  engineering,  from  Hanni 
bal's  eating  down  the  Alps  with  vinegar,  or  the  Great 
Emperor's  road  across  the  Simplon,  to  the  present  day, 
is  to  be  compared  with  this  passage  of  the  Sierras  from 
Ogden  to  Sacramento  by  Messrs.  Stanford,  Huntington, 
and  the  rest.  "We  never  scientifically  examined  either 


IMPRESSIVE    GRANDEUR    OF    THE   SCENERY.        109 

Hannibal's  or  Napoleon's  achievements,  but  we  are  very 
willing  to  accept  the  theory  both  that  Americans  err  in 
lack  of  self-appreciation,  and  that  the  Pacific  road  is 
the  road  of  the  world ;  and  we  advise  those  statistical 
souls  which  thirst  for  exact  information  about  anything, 
to  go  and  read  all  about  this  national  triumph  in  any 
one  of  half  a  dozen  most  excellent  books  of  travel,  or 
even  in  the  discursive  and  chatty  Guide  books  which 
solaced  many  a  weary  hour  for  us  in  crossing  the  prairies 
and  deserts  which  artistically  throw  out  by  contrast 
the  wonders  and  beauties  of  the  route.  For  ourselves, 
let  us  simply  note  the  thrill  of  awe  and  wonder  with 
which  we  gazed  up  the  walls  of  the  Blue  Canon,  one 
thousand  feet  of  sheer  precipice,  while  far  below  winds 
a  narrow  ribbon  of  blue  water  curving  to  the  curve  of 
the  foothills,  and  sweeping  around  their  craggy  feet, 
avoiding  the  jagged  points,  and  lending  grace  and 
bsauty  to  the  stern  and  rugged  scene  in  a  manner 
altogether  feminine.  By  the  way,  how  true  is  that 
instinct  which  makes  every  one  call  a  river  she,  and  a 
mountain  he! 

But  of  all  the  scenery  of  the  entire  route,  nothing 
can  compare  with  the  Great  American  Canon,  heralded 
by  the  rounding  of  Cape  Horn,  where  the  railway  clings 
to  the  face  of  a  precipice,  with  a  thousand  feet  of  crag 
above  and  two  thousand  feet  below  ;  a  river  winding 
dimly  through  the  ravine,  and  giant  pine  trees  dv^arfed 
to  shrubs  as  we  look  down  upon  their  crests.  No 
blood  so  sluggish,  no  eyes  so  dull,  no  heart  so  numbed 
and  encrusted  by  worldliness  but  that  they  must  be 
etirred  and  thrilled,  as  few  things  in  this  world  can  stir 


110  INVOCATION    TO    TOURISTS. 

its  favorite  children,  by  the  sensation  of  thus  flying 
like  a  bird  across  the  face  of  this  precipice,  over  the 
depths  of  this  frightful  abyss,  suspended,  as  it  were, 
between  heaven  and  the  inferno  ;  where  the  daring 
men  who  first  stood  here  among  the  eagle's  nests  were 
lowered  from  the  top  of  the  cliffs  by  ropes,  and  where, 
to-day,  one  feels  that  at  any  moment  the  Titan  slumber 
ing  within  the  mountain  may  by  a  single  sleeping  sigh 
fling  off  unconsciously  the  puny  insect  that  dares  thus 
to  traverse  his  stupendous  breast.  The  worst  thing 
about  language  is,  that  it  becomes  so  inadequate  when 
anything  of  importance  has  to  be  portrayed.  Talleyrand 
might  well  remark  that  words  were  given  to  conceal 
thought  or  feeling,  if  either  is  a  little  out  of  the  com 
mon  experience  ;  so,  without  attempting  the  impossible, 
we  simply  say  to  those  of  our  friends  to  whom  the  Alps 
are  a  bore,  Appenines  and  Pyrenees  a  weariness,  and 
the  Andes  a  tiresome  impossibility,  do  go  and  see  the 
American  Canon,  Cape  Horn,  the  Sierras,  Donner  Lake, 
Emigrant  Gap,  Yuba  River  with  its  dam,  and  all  the 
rest  of  it.  The  journey  is  luxurious,  the  expense  no 
greater  than  three  months  abroad,  and  the  result  some 
thing  which  will  convince  you  that  you  did  not  know 
your  world  as  well  as  you  thought  you  did.  Perhaps 
after  all,  however,  the  most  original  sensation  is  experi 
enced  as  one  from  the  level  of  the  mountain  tops  looks 
across  the  sea  of  peaks  to  the  horizon  line  on  a  level 
with  himself,  and  feels  that  each  of  these  crests  repre 
sents  a  mountain  which  he  would  spend  weary  hours  in 
climbing,  if  placed  at  its  foot.  It  is  a  world  above  the 
level  of  the  world  we  know  and  habitually  live  in, 


THE    WONDERFUL    POWER    OF    WATER.  Ill 

another  strata  of  earth's  surface,  and  gives  far  more 
idea  of  mountain  scenery  than  anything  we  have  ever 
beheld  ;  infinitely  more  than  the  passage  of  the  Eocky 
Mountains. 

At  Dutch  Flat,  so  called  from  being  an  unusually 
hilly  and  broken  country,  we  came  upon  the  first  gold 
mining,  the  placer  fashion  being  nearly  out  of  style, 
except  in  some  parts  of  California,  where  the  root  of 
all  evil  is  still  to  be  found  on  the  surface,  and  small 
boys,  when  a  circus  comes  into  their  town,  borrow  their 
mothers'  tin  pans  and  go  into  the  field  to  wash  out  gold 
enough  to  pay  for  a  ticket.  Hydraulic  mining  is  the 
same  principle  carried  out,  for  instead  of  a  dipper  full 
of  water  poured  into  a  pan  of  earth,  whole  tons  of  water 
are  brought  in  iron  pipes  and  hurled  against  the  faces 
of  hills  and  cliffs  a  hundred  or  more  feet  high,  until  the 
earth  is  all  washed  down  into  the  flumes  below,  and 
agitated  until  the  particles  of  gold  settle  at  the  bottom 
of  the  muddy  mass.  It  is  really  wonderful  to  see  what 
a  force  water  thus  applied  can  become  ;  some  of  these 
streams,  starting  from  a  head  of  five  hundred  feet  in 
height,  and  directed  through  a  nozzle  six  inches  in 
diameter,  assume  a  power  nothing  less  than  awful ;  for 
great  rocks,  weighing  hundreds  of  tons,  are  tossed 
out  of  their  beds  like  the  merest  of  pebbles,  and  the 
toughest  clay  and  cement  washed  away  like  dust  before 
their  first  approach.  Such  a  stream  is,  as  we  were  told, 
solid  to  the  touch  and  cold  as  ice,  and  either  man  or 
beast,  upon  whom  it  was  turned,  would  find  as  sudden 
death  as  in  the  track  of  a  cannon-ball. 

A  verdant  and  picturesque  hill  subjected  to  a  course 


112  MAN1 8    GREED    OF    GAIN. 

of  this  sort  of  hydropathy  assumes,  in  a  few  days,  the 
look  of  those  landscapes  Dore  loves  to  depict  in  his 
Inferno :  every  particle  of  soil,  trees,  grasses,  even  the 
lighter  rocks,  are  washed  away,  and  lie  in  disordered 
masses  at  the  foot,  while  the  grim  skeleton  of  the  crag, 
if  it  was  one,  remains  ghastly,  naked,  desolate,  a  monu 
ment  of  man's  unmistakable  greed  of  gain  and  reckless 
sacrifice  of  everything  that  stands  between  it  and  him 
self.  It  is  to  be  devoutly  hoped  that  the  gold  thus 
won  is  used  somewhere  and  somehow  to  beautify  the 
earth  and  the  lives  of  its  inhabitants,  for  surely  the 
getting  of  it  is  a  most  defacing  process  to  both  the  one 
and  the  other. 

At-Colfax  the  train  stopped  for  breakfast,  and  the 
platform  swarmed  with  boys  selling  strawberries,  the 
first  fruits  of  the  new  climate  we  were  entering  upon. 
At  the  right  of  the  station  stood  a  row  of  Chinese 
shops,  each  with  its  mysterious  sign  in  red  and  gilded 
paper  stuck  up  beside  the  door.  At  a  stall  stood  •* 
Chinese  butcher,  cutting  up  a  sheep,  and  threading 
little  morsels  of  the  meat  upon  a  long  splint  of  bam 
boo,  exactly  as  the  Turks  in  Constantinople  string 
"  Kibaubs  "  for  the  watering  mouths  of  the  Faithful. 

From  this  point  the  face  of  the  country  changed  ; 
vanished  the  mighty  Sierras,  the  terrible  abysses,  the 
frowning  black-green  forests,  the  majesty  and  awe  jf 
the  mountains  ;  vanished,  too,  the  desolation  and  dese 
cration  of  the  placer  mining  district,  and  we  were  in  a 
garden  hundreds  of  miles  in  extent,  and  teeming  with 
vegetation  in  every  variety ;  a  lovely  Summer  iand, 
fertile  and  blossoming  spontaneously  with  a  luxuriance 


SACRAMENTO   A    GIGANTIC    BOUQUET-  113 

the  Mormons  scarcely  approach  in  Utah,  even  with  the 
life -long  and  exhaustive  labor  they  have  bestowed  upon 
their  arid  soil.  Sacramento,  the  centre  of  this  lovely 
region,  is  like  a  gigantic  bouquet,  every  little  villa 
rising  from  the  midst  of  its  entourage  of  clipped  cedars, 
palm  trees,  cactus,  prickly-pear,  and  belts  of  flowers, 
while  the  air,  soft  and  caressing  as  that  of  the  Spice 
Islands,  was,  like  that,  laden  with  perfume  far  fresher 
and  less  enervating  than  those. 

" Sacramento!"  murmured  the  young  lady,  as  she 
buried  her  face  in  a  mass  of  roses  presented  by  our 
artist,  who  had  secured  them  from  one  of  the  urchins 
clamoring  upon  the  platform.  "  It  is  the  oath  of  fealty 
by  which  man  regains  the  Paradise  he  has  lost." 

"  That  sort  of  Paradise  is  regained  by  every  woman 
somewhere  between  fifteen  and  fifty,"  murmured  the 
Sultana,  suffering  her  cashmere  to  drop  altogether  from 
her  shouldeis  as  the  balmy  air  crept  in  at  the  opened 
window. 

The  only  things  that  we  never  tire  of  are  those  that 
are  snatched  from  us  before  we  have  fairly  enjoyed 
them,  and  perhaps  we  should  not  remember  this  Para 
dise  Regained  so  vividly  but  that  we  lost  it  directly  in 
a  region  of  the  most  commonplace  and  uninteresting 
prosperity,  continuing  until  we  reached  Oakland,  the 
end  of  the  road,  and  standing  in  the  same  relation  to 
San  Francisco  that  Brooklyn  does  to  New  York. 

Wearied,  apathetic  with  over  -  exertion,  and  yet 
excited  in  feeling  that  at  last  we  had  reached  the 
Eldorado,  the  City  of  the  Golden  Gate,  the  Mecca  of 
our  journey,  we  crossed  the  ferry,  affronted  the  army  of 


114  REST  AND    COMFORT. 

hackmen  raging  upon  the  other  side,  and  choosing  the 
least  vociferous  of  the  crowd,  were  driven  through 
dingy  and  unlovely  business  streets  to  the  Palace  Hotel, 
which  we  entered  with  something  of  the  eagerness  of 
"Noah's  Weary  Dove,"  when,  aftor  her  long  and  fati 
guing  flight,  she  found  the  Ark  of  rest  and  comfort. 


THE  "  NOBLE  SAVAGE."    Page  107. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE     PALACE     HOTEL,      PHOTOGRAPHY,     AND     THE 
STEEETS. 

ONE  of  the  most  interesting  sights  in  San  Francisco 
is  the  one  that  was  first  presented  to  our  consid 
eration,  namely  :  the  Palace  Hotel.  A  certain  English 
man  described  it  as  a  huge  building  "  broken  out  into 
bird-cages,"  thus  figuring  the  impression  produced 
upon  his  mind  by  the  tier  upon  tier  of  bow-windows 
which,  whether  they  be  considered  as  disfiguring  or 
ornamental  to  the  general  effect,  are  certainly  very 
comfortable  to  the  inmates  of  the  rooms  thus  beauti 
fied  ;  besides — and  here  we  claim  the  congratulations  of 
those  friends  who  have  denied  us  a  practical  turn  of 
mind — besides  securing  to  Senator  Sharon  a  consider 
able  area  of  territory  not  included  in  the  ground-plan, 
which,  nevertheless,  covers  a  whole  square,  measuring 
about  two  acres  and  a  half ;  and  it  will  be  a  convenience 
to  conscientious  pedestrians  taking  their  matutinal 
promenade  to  know  that  to  go  around  the  house  upon 
the  street  is  to  walk  a  quarter  of  a  mile ;  or  if  their 
taste  is  feline,  to  go  around  the  roof  is  to  traverse 
the  third  of  a  mile.  Let  us  furthermore  state,  that  the 
corridors  collectively  measure  two  and  one-half  miles ; 
that  twenty  miles  of  gas-pipe  are  necessary  to  its  illu 
mination  ;  that  there  are  four  hundred  and  thirty-seven 
bath  tubs,  and  accommodations  for  twelve  hundred 


116  MAGNIFICENCE    OF    THE    PALACE    HOTEL. 

guests.  Having  thus  sacrificed  on  the  altar  of  statis 
tics,  let  us  chronicle  our  own  first  impressions,  which 
are  never  by  any  chance  statistical. 

Driving  in  through  iron  gates  and  a  stone  archway, 
we  entered  an  almost  regal  inner  court,  reminding  us  of 
the  Grand  Hotel  at  Paris  on  an  enlarged  scale  ;  seven 
tiers  of  balconies  surround  the  four  sides,  ornamented 
with  frequent  tubs  of  flowering  plants,  cages  of  singing 
birds,  and  sofas  and  chairs,  where  groups  of  guests  sit 
to  chat,  or  promenade  up  and  down.  A  glass  dome 
covers  the  whole,  giving  a  soft  and  tempered  light 
during  the  day,  while  at  night  the  place  is  brilliantly 
illuminated  by  gas.  On  the  ground  floor  the  court  is 
faced  with  white  marble,  and  a  circular  carriage -drive 
sweeps  around  the  centre,  where  stand  groups  of  palm 
and  banana  trees,  and  vases  of  beautiful  flowers.  Chairs 
and  settees  are  dotted  around  the  pavement,  where  sit 
the  flaneurs  who  like  to  watch  the  constant  arrivals  of 
guests,  and  the  visitors'  carriages  standing  in  waiting 
complete  the  lively  and  picturesque  scene. 

Mr.  Warren  Leland,  that  prince  of  landlords,  wel 
comed  us  courteously  and  cordially,  escorted  us  from 
the  largest  and  most  elegant  reception-room,  upon 
the  easiest  elevator  in  the  world,  to  the  suite  of  apart 
ments  on  the  second  floor  lately  occupied  by  Dom 
Pedro ;  gave  us  the  freedom  of  his  kingdom,  and  at  a 
later  hour  caused  the  courtyard  to  be  illuminated  from 
ground  to  dome,  and  a  serenade  to  be  given  in  honor 
of  our  arrival.  That  evening  we  did  little  but  make  the 
tour  of  the  drawing-rooms  and  other  principal  apart 
ments,  which  are  as  magnificent  as  befit  a  Palace  Hotel, 


THE   ARCHITECTURE    OF   SAN   FRANCISCO.  Ill 

listen  to  the  statistics  elaborately  set  down  above, 
satisfy  ourselves  of  the  comfort  of  the  bathing  tubs, 
and  go  to  bed  tired,  happy,  and  full  of  anticipating 
delight  for  the  morrow. 

Next  morning,  after  breakfast,  we  received  the  visits 
of  several  photographers,  who  have  probably  learned 
by  inspiration  the  Chief's  amiable  weakness  for  this 
school  of  art  and  artists,  and  who  propose  to  immortal 
ize  us  in  a  group.  Not  fancying  that  style  of  immor 
tality,  however,  we  compromise  for  large  numbers  of 
individual  portraits.  Our  attentive  friends  claimed, 
and  we  believe  the  fact  is  confessed,  that  San  Francisco 
is  the  place  of  all  places  for  the  perfection  of  their  art, 
the  peculiar  atmosphere  lending  itself  most  happily  to 
the  combination  of  their  chemicals. 

Like  Home,  San  Francisco  is  built  on  seven  hills 
— the  foothills  of  the  Sierras ;  and  nearly  every  street 
sweeps  up  a  steep  incline  to  a  bold,  rocky  bluff,  crested 
with  villas  and  other  buildings,  giving  a  wonderfully 
picturesque  look  to  the  whole.  There  are  some  stone 
buildings,  but  more  of  wood,  and  few  exceed  two 
stories  in  height,  the  frequent  earthquakes,  or  "  shakes,'* 
as  they  are  familiarly  called,  making  higher  pretensions 
dangerous.  The  style  of  architecture  has  been  justly 
denominated  as  "  San  Franciscan,"  and  the  bow  window 
is  its  exponent :  not  a  house,  from  the  Palace  Hotel 
and  the  sumptuous  mansion  of  the  millionaire  to  the 
cozy  nest  of  "two  young  lovers  lately  wed,"  but  is 
studded  with  bow-win  lows,  very  many  of  them  filled 
with  flowers  and  bird-cages.  A  lady  to  whom  we 
noticed  this  peculiarity  explained  that  the  climate  of 


118  man  PRICES  PREVAIL. 

San  Francisco  is  such  as  to  seldom  allow  one  to  sit  or 
lounge  out  of  doors,  the  high,  cold  winds  almost  invari 
ably  coming  in  from  seaward  by  noon,  or  earlier,  and 
that  after  that  time  a  sunny  bow- window  with  a  stand 
of  plants  was  far  more  comfortable  than  a  garden  chair ; 
and  it  is  true  that  the  sunshine  is  a  luxury  more  highly 
appreciated  in  San  Francisco  than  in  most  cities,  for  a 
room  deprived  of  it  is  scarcely  comfortable  night  and 
morning  without  fire  during  most  of  the  year. 

The  most  fashionable  shops  are  on  Kearney  and 
Montgomery  streets,  the  Broadway  and  favorite  prom 
enades  of  the  city.  The  windows  of  these  shops  are 
large,  and  showily  furnished,  but  the  interiors  are  of 
limited  extent,  owing  to  the  high  price  of  land  in  these 
localities.  Every  imaginable  object  is  to  be  bought  in 
San  Francisco,  generally  at  very  high  prices  ;  for,  like 
most  places  of  sudden  growth,  it  is  an  extravagant 
place  in  dress,  equipage,  and  general  tone  of  living,  the 
fortunes  of  the  East  becoming  a  modest  competence 
here,  -and  what  would  be  comfort  in  Philadelphia  or 
Baltimore  dwindling  to  penury  in  San  Francisco. 

Many  of  the  smaller  shops  are  open  to  the  street 
like  booths,  especially  the  cigar  and  liquor  establish 
ments,  in  one  of  which  we  saw  a  man  throwing  dice  for 
a  drink.  Most  of  the  sidewalks  are  of  wood,  and  the 
street-car  tracks  are  paved  with  that  material,  although 
we  were  told  that  none  but  the  Nicholson  pavement 
has  proved  a  success  here,  as  the  long,  dry  heat  oi 
certain  portions  of  the  year,  and  the  persistent  damp 
ness  of  others,  shrink  and  swell,  out  of  proportion,  the 
blocks  of  all  other  kinds  of  wooden  pavement. 


AN   EXHILARATING-    CLIMATE.  119 

The  climate  of  San  Francisco  seems  a  point  as 
difficult  to  settlo  as  the  standard  of  feminine  beauty, 
or  the  intrinsic  value  of  Wagner's  music.  Every  one 
agrees  that  it  is  an  exhilarating  climate,  that  the  air  is 
more  highly  charged  with  ozone  than  in  most  localities, 
that  the  brain-worker  can  accomplish  more  here  in  a 
given  time  than  anywhere  else,  and  wear  himself  out 
faster ;  for  dear  Starr  King  died  of  exhaustion,  of  old 
age,  in  fact,  after  doing  the  work  of  a  generation  for  his 
adopted  State  ;  and  such  a  career  as  that  of  W.  A. 
Ralston  would  scarcely  have  been  possible  in  any  city 
other  than  high-pressure  San  Francisco.  But  this 
ozone,  this  fourth  -  proof  oxygen,  is  borne  upon  the 
wings  of  high,  cold  winds,  piercing  the  very  marrow  of  a 
sensitive  form,  and  alternating  with  fogs  and  dampness, 
fatal  to  any  rheumatic  or  neuralgic  tendencies,  and 
unfavorable  to  pulmonary  complaints.  A  few  hours  of 
nearly  every  morning  are  charming  out  of  doors,  and 
the  rest  of  the  day  a  fire  or  a  bow-window  full  of  sun 
shine  is  still  more  charming.  One  person  says,  "The 
climate  of  San  Francisco  is  all  that  keeps  me  alive  "; 
and  the  next  one  shudders,  "The  climate  is  killing  me ; 
I  must  get  out  of  town  to  warm  my  blood,  or  it  will 
congeal  altogether."  All  confess,  however,  that  this  is 
the  chilliest  and  breeziest  point  upon  the  whole  coast, 
for  it  stands  in  a  gap  of  the  hills,  guarding  the  shore 
for  miles  above  and  below,  and  once  in  the  sheltered 
valleys  lying  between  this  coast  line  and  the  Sierras, 
one  comes  into  a  tropical  and  paradisaical  climate  as 
enervating  to  the  brain  as  the  breezy  air  of  San  Fran 
cisco  is  exciting.  Let  us  conclude  that  the  climate, 


120  COSMOPOLITANISM    OF    THE    POPULATION. 

like  the  society,  like  the  morals,  and  like  the  social 
habits  of  San  Francisco,  is  a  little  mixed,  and  that 
a  wise  eclecticism  is  desirable  in  choosing  a  residence 
therein. 

One  feature  of  the  street  scenery  in  this  city  is 
the  large  proportion  of  foreign  physiognomy  and  the 
accents  of  almost  every  language  under  the  sun,  which 
meet  one's  ear  in  all  the  crowded  thoroughfares.  The 
easy  access  of  the  Pacific  coast  from  the  other  side  of 
the  globe  has  led  thither  a  class  of  Oriental  strangers 
who  are  seldom  seen  even  in  New  York,  and  not  only 
the  Chinaman,  but  his  neighbors  of  Asia  and  Africa — 
"Mede,  Parthian  and  Scythian" — here  find  a  home, 
a  field  of  labor,  and  a  share,  however  small,  of 
the  almighty  dollar,  which  has  proved  more  lovely 
in  their  eyes  than  the  lands  of  the  bul-bul  and  the 
rose. 

To  accommodate  these  various  tastes,  various  amuse 
ments,  shops,  theatres,  and  especially  restaurants,  are 
established  at  every  corner,  and  the  Frenchman,  scan 
ning  the  menu  of  the  Maison  Doree,  may  fancy  himself 
at  the  Trois  Freres,  in  Paris ;  while  the  German  finds 
his  sauerkraut,  the  Italian  his  maccaroni,  the  Spaniard 
his  picadillo,  and  the  Welshman  his  leek,  each  at  his 
own  house  of  refreshment;  and  the  Chinese  eating- 
houses  are  a  feature  of  their  especial  quarter,  to  be 
mentioned  hereafter.  To  live  in  lodgings  and  to  eat  in 
a  restaurant  is  San  Franciscan  as  much  as  it  is  Paris 
ian,  and  even  families  possessing  houses  and  domestic 
conveniences  are  often  to  be  found  at  one  or  the 
other  of  these  establishments,  dining  or  lunching,  "just 


SOCIAL    LAW   IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  121 

for  variety";  and  also,  perhaps,  to  see  and  to  be  seen 
a  little. 

A  fashionable  restaurant  for  gentlemen  is  "The 
Poodle  Dog";  "Campi's"  is  as  Italian  as  Naples,  and 
the  "  Maison  Doree  "  is  Delmonican  in  every  respect. 
The  code  of  social  law  in  San  Francisco  permits  young 
ladies  to  freely  visit  these  establishments,  even  at  the 
risk  of  occasionally  encountering  a  male  acquaintance, 
and  a  cynical  observer  may  find  more  refreshment  in 
quiet  observation  of  the  scenes  around  him  than  in 
meat  or  drink.  Perhaps,  on  the  whole,  we  would  not 
advise  the  widowed  mother  of  a  family  of  lads  and 
lassies  to  carry  them  to  San  Francisco  for  social  train 
ing;  the  Prunes,  Prisms,  and  Propriety  system  is  not 
universal,  and  although  there  is  a  large  class  of  charm 
ing,  unexceptional,  and  rigidly  moral  society,  there  are 
several  other  classes  shading  into  it  by  almost  imper 
ceptible  degrees ;  and  the  bygone  days,  when  every  man 
was  a  law  unto  himself  in  this  city,  have  left  their 
impress  in  a  certain  recklessness  and  willfulness  of 
feeling  pervading  every  circle. 

The  style  of  street  dress  is  more  gay  and  showy 
than  is  consistent  with  the  severest  taste,  and  an  after 
noon  promenade  upon  Kearney  or  Montgomery  streets 
reminds  one  of  a  fashionable  "Opening,"  when  the 
lay  figures  have  suddenly  received  life  and  the  power 
of  locomotion.  It  has  been  said  that  in  other  cities 
the  demi-monde  imitates  the  fashions  of  the  beau- 
monde,  but  that  in  San  Francisco  the  case  is  reversed, 
and  the  caprices  of  the  former  class  are  meekly  copied 
by  the  latter.  It  may  be  a  libel ;  but  we  certainly  saw 


122  ASCENDANCY    OF    THE    ROMISH   FAITH. 

very  elegant  toilets,  and  very  fine  jewels,  both  in 
carriages  and  upon  pedestrians  to  whom  we  had  no 
letters  of  introduction. 

Noticing  a  goodly  proportion  of  churches  among 
the  handsome  buildings  of  San  Francisco,  we  inquired 
if  anybody  ever  visited  them,  and  were  indignantly 
informed  that  religion  was  one  of  the  most  flourishing 
imports  of  the  City  of  the  Golden  Gate.  Everybody 
knows,  of  course,  that  it  was  originally  founded  as  a 
mission  by  the  Franciscan  Fathers,  the  first  of  whom, 
the  Padre  Junipero  Serra,  scandalized  that  no  station 
had  as  yet  been  dedicated  to  his  patron  saint,  prayed 
to  him  for  a  fortunate  harbor  in  his  next  voyage  of 
exploration;  and  being  led  or  driven  through  the 
Golden  Gate,  considered  that  the  Saint  thus  indicated 
the  spot  where  he  would  have  his  altar  erected,  and 
so  named  the  waters  upon  which  the  mission  vessel 
floated,  "The  Bay  of  San  Francisco."  The  Mission 
House  and  Church  were  more  elaborately  styled  "Los 
Dolores  de  nuestro  Padre,  San  Francisco  de  Assissi," 
and  is  still  called  the  Mission  Dolores;  while  the 
presidio  and  fort  erected  to  protect  the  good  monks  in 
their  holy  work  was  called  San  Francisco,  and  the  town 
that  languidly  grew  around  them  took  the  name  of 
Yerba  Buena,  from  a  medicinal  plant  growing  abund 
antly  in  the  vicinity.  It  was  not  until  1847  that  the 
name  of  San  Francisco  was  formally  given  to  the  little 
town,  then  just  upon  the  eve  of  its  marvelous  upward 
bound  to  the  rank  of  a  great  city.  The  Romish  faith 
thus  planted  has  kept  its  ascendancy  in  the  city  of  San 
Francisco  d'Assissi,  and  claims  to-day  about  one-half 


THE   SABBATH    IN   SAN   FRANCISCO.  123 

of  the  population.  St.  Mary's  Cathedral,  St.  Francis's 
St.  Patrick's  and  St.  Ignatius' s,  are  all  with  large  and 
wealthy  congregations,  and  there  are  ten  more  Eoman 
churches  in  the  city.  The  Presbyterians  are  most 
numerous  among  the  Protestant  denominations,  and 
Calvary  Church  is  one  of  the  handsomest  in  the  city. 
Grace  and  Trinity  are  the  most  prominent  of  the  Epis 
copal  Churches,  and  both  claim  large  and  fashionable 
congregations  ;  and  the  Congregationalists,  Methodists, 
Baptists,  and  other  denominations  are  in  a  hopeful 
condition.  Attendance  at  all  of  these  churches  for 
morning  service  is  quite  general,  but  the  afternoon 
and  evening  of  Sunday  are  devoted  to  amusement  by 
the  San  Franciscan,  and  each  in  his  degree  seeks  some 
place  of  public  or  private  entertainment,  or  the  day  is 
spent  in  ruralizing,  or  in  driving  and  visiting. 

Returning  from  our  first  tour  of  the  city  we  dined 
in  the  grand  hall  of  the  Palace  Hotel,  where  stand  four 
rows  of  tables,  with  space  for  three  persons  to  walk 
abreast  between  them,  the  whole  lighted  by  twelve 
great  crystal  chandeliers. 

A  note  from  Mr.  Barton  Hill,  whose  artistic  ability, 
so  well  known  at  the  East,  is  here  united  to  a  mana 
gerial  position,  invited  us  all  to  his  theatre,  where 
three  boxes  were  set  apart  for  our  accommodation. 
The  star  was  Alice  Dunning,  and  our  eyes  were  so 
abundantly  feasted  that  the  treat  to  the  ears  was  a 
work  of  supererogation,  the  one  sense  absorbing  all 
one's  capacity  for  enjoyment.  And  so  back  to  repose 
in  Dom  Pedro's  sumptuous  apartments  and  to  dream 
of  the  morrow. 


CHAPTEE  XII. 

A     PfclNCE     AND     A     PALACE. 

A  FEW  days  after  our  arrival  in  San  Francisco  we 
gladly  accepted  an  invitation  from  Senator 
Sharon  to  pass  some  days  at  his  country  house  of  Bel- 
mont,  a  name  so  intimately  associated  with  that  of  its 
late  master,  William  A.  Ralston,  whose  life  and  death 
form  one  of  the  mpst  startling  and  extraordinary 
episodes  of  San  Franciscan  history,  that  we  must  pause 
here  to  speak  one  word  of  a  man  through  whose  means 
hundreds  of  persons  fell  from  affluence 'to  penury;  and 
yet  of  whose  death  those  very  persons  spoke  with  tears 
in  their  eyes,  as  a  public  loss  and  misfortune.  Mr. 
Ralston  was  the  Napoleon  of  speculators,  and,  like  the 
great  Emperor,  his  career  of  unparalleled  success  was 
closed  by  a  Waterloo  of  utter  defeat. 

A  self-made  man,  he  rose  from  the  smallest  begin 
nings  to  the  position  of  banker  and  broker  before  he 
was  thirty  years  old,  and  in  the  time  of  the  war  man 
aged  the  business  of  his  firm  so  successfully  that  his 
correspondents  in  New  York  urged  him  to  come  hither 
and  consolidate  his  business  with  theirs,  promising 
that  the  firm  thus  formed  should  become  the  leading 
banking-house  in  the  country.  It  was  then  that  Mr. 
Ralston  laid  the  corner  stone  of  the  monument  to  his 
own  memory  in  San  Francisco,  which  even  the  earth 
quake  of  his  failure  and  death  could  not  overthrow. 


THE   PRINCELY  W.  A.  RALSTON.  125 

and  which  long  will  stand  an  object  of  love  and  rever 
ence  to  the  generous  hearts  of  the  people,  who  forgave 
their  own  loss  in  pity  for  his  so  much  greater  one. 

"  No,"  said  he,  in  answer  to  Mr.  Kelly's  letter,  "  we 
have  made  our  money  in  California,  and  if  it  is  the 
nucleus  of  a  business  that  shall  bring  credit  and  advan 
tage  to  the  city  where  it  is  established,  that  city  shall 
be  San  Francisco,  and  the  men  who  profit  by  it  shall 
be  San  Franciscans." 

That  sentence  was  the  key-note  of  his  subsequent 
career.  Princely  in  his  outlays,  Oriental  in  his  mag 
nificence,  audacious  in  his  enterprises,  the  millions  he 
lavished  upon  business  undertakings,  or  palatial  resi 
dences,  or  hospitality  such  as  seems  only  possible  in  an 
Arabian  Night's  Entertainment,  were  all  expended  at 
home  ;  the  money  passing  into  his  hands  from  hun 
dreds  of  wealthy  and  confiding  fellow  citizens,  passed 
through  them  to  the  hands  of  thousands  of  other  fellow 
citizens,  who  lived  by  him  and  who  adored  him. 

As  President  and  Manager  of  the  Bank  of  Califor 
nia,  Mr.  Ealston  found  ample  opportunities  for  fostering 
the  prosperity  and  the  interests  of  his  adopted  State, 
and  used  them  grandly  and  fearlessly.  The  mining 
interests,  manufacturing  and  commercial  enterprises, 
private  schemes,  if  undertaken  for  the  general  good,  all 
derived  sustenance  from  this  rich  fountain-head,  and 
the  country  grew  and  throve  as  thousands  of  little  rills 
trickled  from  it  through  arid  and  thirsting  deserts. 

It  was  in  these  days  that  Ralston  built  Belmont,  a 
palace  costing  a  million  and  a  half  of  dollars,  standing 
in  the  midst  of  two  hundred  acres  of  pleasure  grounds. 


126  THE   DAYS    OF   BELMONTS    GLORY. 

Stables  finer  than  many  a  good  man's  house  are  filled 
with  the  best  horses  to  be  bought  for  money ;  green 
houses,  graperies,  ferneries,  teem  with  all  that  is  rare 
and  lovely  in  the  world's  flora ;  banana,  orange,  and  lemon 
trees  grow  in  the  open  air  ;  everything  that  the  mind  of 
man  can  imagine  in  the  way  of  luxurious  living  is  here 
collected ;  and  in  wandering  through  this  palace  and  its 
grounds,  where  everything  seems  to  wear  an  invisible 
badge  of  mourning  for  its  ruined  and  dead  lord,  one 
can  only  remember  Fouquet,  that  other  architect  of  a 
colossal  fortune  and  his  own  ruin;  and  Vaux,  the 
stately  home  built  for  his  pleasure,  whose  magnificence 
so  filled  the  narrow  heart  of  Louis  le  Grand  with  envy 
and  chagrin,  that  the  favorite's  death  was  decreed  even 
while  the  monarch  accepted  his  hospitality. 

It  was  no  uncommon  thing  in  the  days  of  Belmont's 
glory  for  its  master  to  engage  a  special  train  of  cars, 
fill  it  with  guests,  a  band  of  music,  flowers,  and  all 
that  could  add  to  the  sumptuousness  of  a  banquet, 
and  make  a  sort  of  royal  progress  to  his  palace,  there 
to  spend  a  night  and  day  of  feasting  and  merriment. 
Abstemious  and  frugal  in  his  own  habits,  of  the  table, 
of  dress,  or  equipage,  he  never  wearied  of  heaping 
attentions  and  gifts  upon  his  guests ;  and  the  story  of 
his  sending  a  check  of  ten  thousand  dollars  to  the  man 
who  in  his  early  days  had  lent  him  five  hundred 
dollars,  is  but  one  of  a  score  of  similar  anecdotes 
lovingly  told  to-day  by  men  not  yet  recovered  from  the 
shock  his  failure  gave  to  their  own  financial  concerns. 
It  was  in  the  very  midst,  at  the  very  height,  of  his 
splendor  that  the  crash  came.  The  Bank  of  California 


DEATH   OF   ME.  E ALSTON.  127 

suspended  payment ;  the  City,  the  State,  the  whole 
financial  country  stood  aghast ;  the  management  sum 
moned  Ralston,  in  whom,  up  to  that  moment,  they  had 
reposed  the  blindest  confidence,  for  an  explanation. 
He  had  none  to  offer,  but  he  offered  instead  every 
penny  of  his  princely  fortune  to  throw  into  the  gulf. 
The  sacrifice  was  accepted,  and  Mr.  Ealston  was 
removed  from  his  managerial  position  in  the  bank. 
He  acquiesced  in  this  decision,  spoke  bravely  and 
collectedly  of  the  future  and  its  possible  successes, 
and  then — went  away  from  it  all,  drove  to  the  North 
Beach,  went  into  the  water  to  bathe,  and  was  brought 
to  the  shore  a  little  later  a  corpse  ! 

Some  men  gave  a  harsh  and  ugly  name  to  this 
death ;  others,  more  charitable,  named  it  accident.  Who 
shall  decide  ?  who  shall  read  the  secrets  of  that  proud, 
wounded,  nay,  broken  heart?  who  shall  venture  to 
condemn  this  man,  who  dared  and  lost  so  much,  and 
who,  having  reached  the  summit  of  earthly  prosperity, 
found  it  easier,  perchance,  to  fall  from  that  into  God's 
mercy  than  into  man's  contempt  ? 

Senator  Sharon  was  his  friend  and  partner- 
Together  they  built  the  Palace  Hotel,  costing  six 
millions  of  dollars.  In  addition  to  the  four  millions  con 
stituting  his  share  of  the  property,  Kalston  was,  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  building  a  million-dollar  private  resi 
dence  on  Pine  street,  carrying  a  million  or  more  in  the 
Grand  Hotel,  supporting  several  manufacturing  com 
panies,  and  keeping  the  credit  of  the  Bank  of  California 
to  a  ten  million  dollar  standard,  when  it  was  really 
nothing  but  an  insolvent  shell.  He  died  owing  sixteen 


128  BORROW  FOR    MR.  RALSTON. 

millions,  and  it  is   impossible   to   say  what  the  real 
height  of  his  fluctuating  fortune  ever  was. 

The  public  excitement  at  his  death  was  intense : 
bankrupt  men  stood  openly  crying  in  the  street — not 
that  they  were  ruined,  but  that  Ralston  was  dead;  the 
garb  or  badge  of  mourning  was  everywhere  displayed ; 
the  flags  in  the  harbor  drooped  at  half  mast ;  bells 
tolled  ;  business  was  suspended ;  great  meetings  of  his 
friends  collected  to  pass  resolutions,  to  concert  his 
obsequies,  to  pay  him  every  honor  that  the  dead  can 
receive.  The  poorer  people,  who  could  do  none  of 
these  great  things,  told  of  the  benefits  he  had  ever 
heaped  .upon  their  class,  and  on  them  ;  they  gave  him 
those  words  of  praise  and  blessing  whicn,  from  the  lips 
of  "  God's  own  poor,"  are  perhaps  a  more  costly  tribute 
than  the  flowers  or  the  catafalque,  or  the  music,  or  the 
stately  monument  that  wealth  can  give.  The  funeral 
procession  was  four  miles  long,  and  when  its  head 
reached  the  grave  the  rear  had  not  stirred  from 
Calvary  Church,  where  the  obsequies  took  place. 


SALMON  PISHING,  SACKAMENTO  RIVER. 


CHAPTEE   XIIL 

A     MEMORA-BLE     VISIT. 

BELMONT  lies  twenty -five  miles  south  of  San 
Francisco,  and  is  reached  by  the  S.  P.  E.  R.  after 
an  hour's  ride  over  a  flat  and  uninteresting  country, 
cut  up  into  fields  and  market  -  gardens,  irrigated  by 
ditches,  and  cultivated  by  bare-legged  Chinamen. 
Every  house  has  its  water  tank,  with  a  whirling  mill  to 
fill  it ;  and  the  scene  is  quite  Dutch,  in  spite  of  John 
in  the  foreground  and  the  Sierras  in  the  distance. 

There  is  a  pretty  little  station  at  Belmont,  built  by 
Mr.  Ralston  for  his  own  accommodation,  but  we  left  the 
train  at  San  Matteo,  a  few  miles  north,  where  Senator 
Sharon's  four-in-hand  and  other  carriages  were  waiting 
for  our  party,  now  pleasantly  enlarged  by  the  addition 
of  Senator  Conover  of  Florida,  his  beautiful  young  wife, 
her  brother,  and  a  distinguished  Cuban  friend. 

The  drive  was  through  a  region  of  delight  for  more 
senses  than  one,  since  not  only  were  the  eyes  charmed 
with  Nature's  finest  shows,  but  the  scent  and  feeling  of 
the  soft  air  lazily  drifting  across  our  faces  was  delicious 
beyond  account ;  surely  the  goddess  of  this  land  is 
sweeter  breathed,  as  well  as  fairer,  than  our  northern 
divinities,  and  the  fruit  she  holds  out  with  both  hands 
to  her  guests  more  luscious. 

We  drove  through  the  grounds  of  several  private 
houses,  as  is  the  friendly  custom  here,  and  noticed  that 


130  THE    SCENERY  ABOUND    BELMONT. 

they  are  not  as  precisely  laid  out  as  is  the  fashion  in 
the  East;  but  Nature  is  allowed  to  display  her  own 
luxurious  taste  more  freely,  and  with  a  wonderfully 
fine  effect.  The  live  oak  is  the  principal  tree,  and  many 
of  the  trunks  are  massed  with  ivy  climbing  riotously 
up  the  stem,  and  waving  green  tendrils  from  the  upper 
branches.  The  wonderful  Eucalyptus  also  abounds, 
and  cypress,  and  palm,  and  olive  ;  while  the  roses  blos 
som  upon  trees  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  in  height,  each 
one  a  huge  bouquet  of  bloom  and  fragrance.  Every 
now  and  again  we  caught,  through  gaps  in  the  foliage, 
glimpses  of  the  distant  hills  and  the  crest  line  far 
away,  and  then  drooping  trees  again  closed  around  us. 

At  sunset  we  drove  into  the  precincts  of  Belmont, 
passing  a  large  pleasure-ground  known  as  Belmont 
Park,  the  favorite  picnic  spot  of  the  Italians  in  San 
Francisco.  The  carriages  passed  slowly  on  between 
rows  of  every  beautiful,  graceful,  and  rare  tree  that 
can  be  named;  locusts  laden  with  white  blossoms, 
tulip  trees,  catalpas,  magnolias ;  and  as  we  neared  the 
house  a  lower  growth  of  feathery  pepper-trees,  laden 
with  dull  red  berries,  hedges  of  geranium  and  roses, 
trellises  of  passion-flowers  and  stephanosies,  until  at 
last  these  artistically  graduated  into  belts  and  plots  of 
low-growing  brilliant  flowers,  blooming  up  to  the  doors 
of  the  great  house.  This,  made  of  wood  and  painted 
white,  is  not,  perhaps,  so  imposing  in  its  exterior  as  one 
is  led  to  expect  from  so  magnificent  an  approach,  but 
like  Oriental  mansions  it  reserves  its  wonders  and  its 
luxury  for  those  so  happy  as  to  enter. 

The  situation,  upon  a  sloping  hill,  is  quite  artistic, 


BELMONT  AN  ARCHITECT'S    VISION.  131 

giving  a  very  effective  outlook  from  the  house  itself. 
Driving  under  a  porte  cochere  covered  with  climbing 
yellow  roses,  we  crossed  the  threshold,  and  entered  into 
what  seemed  more  like  the  disordered  vision  of  an  archi 
tect  than  a  sober  American  country  house,  for  beyond 
saying  that  there  is  everywhere  a  pervading  effect  of 
lightness,  and  brightness,  and  airiness,  and  cool  repose, 
and  luxury,  and  comfort,  it  is  all  but  impossible  to  give 
any  idea  of  this  delightful  house.  The  first  feature 
distinctly  appreciated  is  the  absence  of  any  doors 
throughout  the  first  story.  A  wide  corridor,  once  a 
piazza,  runs  around  three  sides,  its  floor  of  native 
woods,  polished  like  a  mirror,  in  the  style  of  old  French 
chateaux ;  cane  and  bamboo  chairs,  Chinese  settees, 
inlaid  tables,  and  tall  vases  of  flowers  furnish  this  gal 
lery,  and  from  it  open,  through  great  French  windows, 
the  parlor,  dining,  billiard  and  drawing  rooms,  while  at 
the  left  hand  lies  a  superb  music  and  dancing  room, 
lighted  through  a  glass  dome  by  day,  and  at  night  by 
graceful  and  elaborate  chandeliers  of  silver  and  crystal. 
The  walls  are  paneled  with  mirrors  and  frescoed  in 
gold  and  neutral  tints,  and  in  a  niche  lined  with  mirrors 
stands  a  grand  piano,  remarkable  for  its  case  of  light, 
satiny,  native  wood.  Chinese  furniture,  light,  elegant, 
and  curious,  some  statues,  vases,  and  plenty  of  flowers, 
furnished  this  room,  one  of  the  most  charming  possible 
to  imagine.  The  great  dining  and  billiard  rooms  have 
waxed  floors,  but  the  parlor,  in  which  a  bright,  cheery 
fire  was  burning,  is  a  cozy  little  carpeted  room, 
eminently  home -like  in  its  aspect,  with  some  fine 
bronzes,  a  wonderful  Chinese  centre-table,  and  some 


132  INTERIOR    ELEGANCE    OF   BELMONT. 

Indian  arm-chairs  of  carved  wood,  big  enough  for  three 
people.  In  the  centre  of  the  house,  and  upon  which  all 
these  rooms  open,  is  a  square  hall,  from  which  winds 
up  a  great  staircase.  Here  stands  a  tall,  old-fashioned 
clock,  such  as  was  familiar  to  some  of  us  in  our  childish 
visits  to  our  grand-parents,  with  the  sun  and  moon 
beaming  jollily  from  its  dial,  and  its  primo  basso  tick  of 
"  For  ever — never  !  Never — for  ever  !"  Here,  too,  upon 
a  pedestal,  stands  a  brazen  bowl  of  Chinese  manufac 
ture,  which  is  used  as  a  gong  to  summon  the  faithful  to 
dinner.  Some  pretty  tables,  chairs,  and  a  large  mirror 
make  up  the  furniture,  unless  one  includes  a  gas 
bracket  in  the  shape  of  a  silver  branch  laden  with 
leaves  and  silver  flowers,  the  latter  each  blossoming 
into  a  tongue  of  flame.  Up-stairs  a  balcony  runs 
around  the  upper  part  of  the  wall,  and  is  prettily 
furnished  with  couches,  chairs,  embroidered  screens 
and  footstools,  and  from  it.  branch  three  corridors,  con 
tiguous  to  which  are  numerous  bed-rooms,  like  those  of 
an  English  country-house.  Ours  was  spacious  and  luxu 
rious,  with  dressing  and  bath  rooms,  every  marble  bowl 
in  the  latter  fitted  with  a  plated  pipe,  supplying  a 
small  shower-bath  for  washing  the  head — a  great  com 
fort,  especially  to  gentlemen,  in  this  dry  and  dusty 
country.  A  large  picture  gallery  lies  above  the  music- 
room,  but  is  not  yet  finished. 

Before  dinner  we  took  a  little  stroll  in  the  grounds, 
looking  at  the  stables  niched  into  the  side  of  a  hill, 
with  imposing  stone  front,  and  spending  some  time  in 
the  fernery,  which  is  really  exquisite,  with  a  lovely 
stone  fountain  trickling  into  a  mossy  stone  basin; 


A   SKETCH    OF  ME.   SHARON.  133 

grottoes,  rock  work,  and  dewy  coverts,  where  wave 
every  graceful  species  of  fern  of  which  the  world  can 
boast.  The  barbaric  tones  of  the  gong  summoned  us 
away  to  a  less  ethereal  feast  before  we  had  half  dono 
with  this,  and  entering  the  dining-room  we  sat  down 
fourteen  at  the  table  which,  in  Kalston's  time,  often 
accommodated  a  hundred  guests.  A  great  pyramid  of 
flowers  and  a  bouquet  at  each  plate  made  the  table  as 
lovely  and  as  fragrant  as  a  garden,  and  the  genial 
and  interesting  conversation  was  a  dangerous  rival  to 
the  sumptuous  dinner  set  before  us. 

Mr.  Sharon,  as  we   have  said,  was  the  friend  and 
partner  of  the  unfortunate  Ealston,  assumed  many  of 
his  debts,  and  accepted  much  unremunerative  property 
in   satisfaction   of  his   own  claims.     He  is  a  man  of 
wonderful  instinctive  appreciation  of  character,  a  gift 
affecting   his   general  manner ;   for,  while  remarkably 
frank   and    outspoken    among    those  whom   he    finds 
congenial,  he   is   chilling   and   reserved  to  those  who 
impress  him  unfavorably.     He  is  a  man  of  great  and 
comprehensive  ability,  and  has  need  of  it  in  attending, 
as  closely  as  he  does,  not  only  to  his  duties  as  United 
States  Senator  from  Nevada,  but  to  the  care  of  his 
own  colossal  fortune  and  domestic  duties.     But  with 
all  of  these  he  has  Byron,  and  Moore,  and  some  of  our 
more   modern    poets   at    his   fingers*  ends,  and    is    a 
vivacious     and    most    entertaining     conversationalist. 
His  immediate  family  is  made  up  of  two  daughters: 
the  younger  a  pleasant  school-girl ;  the  elder  a  fragile, 
graceful  young  woman,  married  to   one   of  the   most 
promising  young    lawyers   of  San    Francisco,  whose 


134  AN   EVENING'S    ENTERTAINMENT. 

sister's  marvelous  musical  talents  added  greatly  to  the 
charm  of  our  stay  at  Belmont. 

The  most  distinctive  feature  of  the  dining-room  was 
a  great  sideboard  of  carved  black  wood,  in  which  is  set 
a  broad  mirror.  Upon  the  face  of  this  mirror,  as  on  the 
dial  of  a  clock,  are  engraved  the  numerals  of  the  hours, 
and  two  slender  gilded  hands  steal  silently  round, 
warning  the  reveler  who  chances  to  glance  at  them 
that  no  man's  life  is  more  than  a  question  of  Time, 
and  not  the  wealthiest,  not  the  most  powerful  of 
mortals,  can  hold  one  single  moment  in  his  grasp,  be 
it  never  so  delightful. 

The  works  of  this  wonderful  clock  are  entirely 
concealed,  and  the  stately,  noiseless  motion  of  the 
hands  across  the  mirror  had  a  most  weird  and  fascin 
ating  effect. 

The  dining-room  opens  into  the  billiard  -  room 
through  a  wide  panel  sliding  up  into  the  ceiling,  and 
after  passing  through  it  we  went  to  the  music-room  to 
spend  the  evening  in  conversation,  in  music — in  which 
our  host's  son  -  in  -  law  and  his  sister  are  proficient  — 
and  in  dancing.  We  were  also  introduced  to  a  novel 
and  curious  musical  instrument,  which,  being  set  and 
wound  up,  goes  on  to  perform  the  duty  of  a  full  band 
of  instruments. 

After  breakfast  on  Sunday  morning  we  again  went 
for  a  drive.  Taking  the  old  San  Jose  post -road 
through  the  little  town  of  Redwood,  we  wound  among 
the  picturesque  foothills,  saw  lovely  glimpses  of  sea 
and  mountain  scenery,  and  drove  through  beautiful 
private  grounds,  among  others,  those  of  the  agent  of 


THE    CHILL   AND    DAMP    SEA    WIND.  135 

the  Rothschilds,  a  bachelor  with  an  income  of  seventy 
thousand  a  year,  who  keeps  up  a  perfect  paradise  of  a 
place  for  himself,  his  dogs,  and  horses.  Again  we  were 
struck  with  the  superiority  of  Nature  to  man  as  a  land 
scape  gardener,  and  her  general  acceptance  in  that 
capacity  in  this  region.  Near  the  heuses,  to  be  sure, 
one  sees  carefully  tended  flower  beds,  and  trim  hedges 
but  a  stone's  throw  beyond ;  the  Spanish  moss  droops 
from  the  live  oak  in  all  its  unkempt  luxuriance,  and 
giant  cacti,  not  unlike  great  green  serpents,  among  the 
undergrowth.  During  the  first  part  of  this  drive  the 
air  was  mild,  fragrant  and  warm  as  our  New  York  July, 
but  as  we  returned  through  Eedwood  the  sea  wind  came 
in  so  chill  and  damp  that  we  were  glad  to  put  on  the  seal 
skin  sacques  that  it  had  seemed  so  absurd  to  place  in 
the  carriage,  but  whose  warmth  was  now  most  welcome. 
Indeed,  it  is  never  safe  in  the  neighborhood  of  San 
Francisco  to  leave  home  for  an  hour  without  some 
substantial  wrap,  and  nothing  is  more  common  than  for 
a  lady  to  dress  in  white  muslin  or  lace,  find  herself 
perfectly  comfortable  during  two  or  three  hours,  and 
then  be  glad  to  wrap  herself  in  furs  or  shawls  above 
the  gossamer  draperies  so  pleasant  a  little  while  before. 

We  met  with  no  reminder  of  the  day  during  our 
drive  ;  shops  were  open  and  business  active  in  the  little 
town,  and  people  had  neither  the  sedate  and  mortified 
air  of  a  Northern  Sunday,  nor  the  festive  and  gorgeous 
aspect  of  that  day  among  a  purely  Latin  population. 

At  dinner  we  spoke  much  of  Ralston,  and  Mr. 
Sharon,  in  eulogizing  his  singular  unselfishness  of  life, 
pointed  out  that  even  this  house,  as  well  as  others  that 


136 


0  UE    LEA  VE-  TAKING. 


he  owned,  was  planned  and  adapted  far  more  for  the 
pleasure  of  his  guests  than  for  himself;  the  little 
parlor  being  the  only  purely  domestic  retreat  in  the 
whole  house. 

The  next  day  we  took  leave  of  our  courteous  host 
and  amiable  family,  and  the  palatial  home,  with  its 
memorable  history,  satisfied  that  there  is  at  least  one 
palace  near  to  the  Golden  Gate ;  and  yet,  as  Aladdin's 
Princess-spouse  missed  the  roc's  egg  in  the  palace  the 
genii  had  built,  we  found  one  great  and  remarkable 
deficiency  at  Belmont :  we  did  not,  in  all  that  mansion, 
see  a  book,  or  a  bookcase,  or  any  spot  where  one  might 
fitly  have  been  placed,  or  expected  to  be  placed  1 


'•-:•!,  ;r  |  ''IT    iiMUuwwMiWii'.u^.; \.--.\\.\\  -   t  xx     •KSS2SSB»«J^f:Kl    WiaewLflUKUfflHSiAyl/' 

SWEETMEAT  VENDER,  CHINESE  THEATRE,  SAN  FRANCISCO.     Page  159. 


CHAPTEK  XIV. 

THE     BBOKEES'    BOARD     AND     THE, CITY     PRISON. 

ON  Monday  evenings  the  Palace  Hotel  is  illuminated 
from  top  to  toe,  the  band  plays  in  the  inner 
court,  and  the  lady  guests  hold  a  reception,  and  dance. 
The  upper  floor,  with  its  glass  roof,  and  wide  balcony 
overlooking  the  court  and  ornamented  with  vases  and 
tubs  of  tropical  plants  in  full  bloom,  is  the  pleasantesfc 
in  the  house,  and  is  let  in  suits  to  families  taking  rooms 
for  the  season.  As  we  have  said,  this  mode  of  life  is 
very  popular  in  San  Francisco,  and  all  the  hotels  are 
built  with  reference  to  permanent  lodgers  as  well  as 
transient  guests,  and  surely  a  lifetime  might  content 
edly  enough  be  spent  in  some  of  the  apartments  of 
which  we  had  experience  in  the  Palace  Hotel.  Among 
other  guests  with  whom  we  made  acquaintance  wero 
the  Admiral  and  officers  of  the  Russian  fleet,  then  in 
harbor,  and  we  especially  noticed  one  handsome  young 
Baron,  for  whom  our  sympathies  were  strongly  enlisted 
a  few  days  later,  by  the  proclamation  of  the  Russo- 
Turkish  war,  and  the  necessity  for  his  sailing  with 
his  ship,  leaving  his  heart  in  the  custody  of  a  fair 
American,  to  whom  he  could  not  even  give  an  address, 
since  the  squadron  sailed  under  sealed  orders. 

We  also  made  the  acquaintance  of  Mrs.  and  Mr.  C., 
purchasers  of  Follette's  portrait  in  Beard's  admirable 


138          THE    SAN   FRANCISCO    BOARD    OF   BROKERS. 

painting  of  "  The  Streets  of  New  York,"  now  on  ex 
hibition  in  the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts.  Mr.  C.  was 
presented  as  the  Vice  -  President  of  the  Union  Pacific 
Kailroad,  but,  as  I  honestly  told  him,  his  appreciation 
of  my  pet's  beauty  and  grace,  and  his  willingness  to 
pay  three  thousand  dollars  for  the  privilege  of  owning 
her  picture,  was  a  higher  title  to  my  consideration 
than  even  that  which  means  for  its  fortunate  possessor 
a  most  honorable  position  and  an  income  of  millions. 
Mr.  C.  is  building  one  of  the  finest  residences  on  the 
hill,  and  the  statuesque  beauty  of  his  wife  would  grace 
a  palace  ;  her  walk  is  the  poetry  of  motion,  and  the 
head  so  imperially  set  upon  her  shoulders  loses  none 
of  its  beauty  by  being  silver  crowned. 

The  next  day  we  visited  the  Board  of  Brokers,  by 
invitation  of  the  President,  and  assisted  at  the  throw 
ing  away,  as  he  plaintively  styled  it,  of  some  mining 
stocks  at  a  rate  lower  than  they  had  ever  been  sold 
at  before.  We  had  seats  in  a  little  private  gallery 
reserved  for  ladies,  and  from  that  coigne  of  vantage 
looked  safely  down  upon  the  ring  of  brokers  in  the 
centre,  with  the  circle  of  spectators  outside.  The 
scene  was  one  of  the  wildest  excitement,  reminding  the 
young  lady  of  a  gladiatorial  arena,  the  Sultana  of  a 
flock  of  hungry  chickens,  to  whom  some  corn  had  been 
thrown,  and  myself  of  the  fact  that  I  was  only  a  woman, 
and  could  never  hope  to  join  in  such  a  soul-stirring 
combat — for  surely  combat  is  but  a  mild  term  to  apply 
to  the  jostling,  yelling,  frenzied,  purple-faced  struggle, 
roused  into  new  vigor  at  each  call  of  a  new  stock  ;  the 
bidders  crowding  to  the  centre,  gesticulating,  pushing, 


THE    tl  BARS  ART  COAST"  EXPLORED.  139 

ready  to  tear  each  other  to  pieces,  or  themselves  fall 
down  in  a  fit  of  apoplexy. 

Not  one  word  of  ali  that  was  shrieked  and  shouted 
could  we  understand ;  but  the  excitement  was  conta 
gious,  and  the  writer  would  have  given  worlds  to  be 
six  feet  high,  deepen  her  voice  to  a"  baritone,  and  be 
in  the  midst  of  it  all ! 

The  profound  truth  deduced  from  this  visit  is  that 
a  successful  broker  must  be  a  tall,  big  man,  with  very 
long  arms,  and  the  theory  was  proven  by  a  visit  paid 

to  our  gallery  by  Mr.  ,  the  leader  of  the  Bears, 

who  is  formed  upon  this  principle,  and  who,  although 
as  meek  mannered  as  possible  with  us  ladies,  and 
bland  and  courteous  to  a  degree  with  everybody,  had 
impressed  me  as  quite  the  typical  broker,  be  he  Bear 
or  Bull. 

From  the  Brokers'  Board  we  proceeded  to  the 
County  Jail.  Passing  through  China  Town  we  entered 
a  far  more  objectionable  region,  called  the  "Barbary 
Coast,"  inhabited  by  the  vilest  class  of  poor  whites,  as 
much  worse  than  the  "  Heathen  Chinee "  as  a  vile 
woman  is  worse  than  a  bad  man,  or  any  good  thing 
gone  to  decay  than  one  naturally  vile.  This  region  is 
said  to  represent,  as  clearly  as  the  iron  rule  of  the 
law  will  permit,  the  social  status  of  San  Francisco  in 
the  early  days,  when  the  report  of  gold  attracted  every 
desperado  on  the  Continent  to  its  search,  and  scarcely 
one  respectable  woman  was  to  be  found  within  the 
city's  limits.  Murder  and  debauchery  of  every  sort 
ran  riot,  and  it  is  surprising  that  out  of  such  vile  soil 
the  fair  flower  and  fruitage  of  the  present  city  could 


140  THE    COUNTY   JAIL    IN   SAN    FRANCISCO. 

ever  have  grown.  In  broad  daylight,  and  protected 
as  we  were,  we  saw  nothing  objectionable  except  a 
large  quantity  of  dirt,  dust  an  inch  thick  upon  the 
sidewalks,  and  numbers  of  hollow-eyed,  sallow-cheeked, 
vicious  -  looking  men  and  women  lounging  in  the 
doorways  and  windows,  or  exchanging  oaths  and 
scurrility  from  house  to  house  above  our  heads.  By 
dint  of  much  inquiry  we  presently  found  ourselves  at 
the  northerly  border  of  this  unhallowed  region,  in  a 
street  called  Broadway,  and  opposite  the  County  Jail, 
an  unpretentious  brick  building,  rather  shabby  and 
dirty.  Mounting  three  narrow  stone  steps  we  were 
confronted  by  a  placard  upon  the  huge  iron  door 
stating  that  positively  no  visitors  could  be  admitted. 
Ringing  the  bell  we  philosophically  awaited  the  event, 
and  presently  perceived  four  human  eyes  inspecting  us 
through  a  small  grated  aperture  in  the  door.  Making 
known  our  names  and  wishes,  our  escort  so  won  upon 
the  Cerberus  within  that  the  iron  door  swung  suddenly 
open,  admitting  us,  and  swiftly  clanging  to,  the  moment 
we  had  entered. 

The  Jailor's  rooms  and  kitchen  lie  in  front,  and 
leading  back  from  these  runs  a  stone  corridor  lighted 
from  above,  whitewashed  severely,  and  with  a  row  of 
black  iron  doors  opening  at  intervals  through  its  ex 
tent  ;  in  every  door  appeared  a  little  window,  scarcely 
large  enough  to  frame  a  human  face,  but  in  every 
window  appeared  two  human  eyes,  coldly  and  in 
curiously  inspecting  the  visitors.  No  model  prisoners 
these,  cleanly,  well  fed,  pious,  industrious  and  sociable, 
such  as  were  exhibited  to  us  in  England,  but  men  of 


CHARACTERISTICS    OF    THE    PRISONERS.  141 

whose  depravity  no  other  warrant  than  those  horrible 
eyes  and  so  much  of  the  face  as  could  be  seen  was 
needed.  So  far  from  appearing  ashamed  or  angry 
at  our  inspection,  it  was  we  who  were  compelled  to 
lower  our  eyes  and  hasten  our  footsteps  to  escape 
from  ths  bold  and  loathsome  license  of  those  looks. 
All  were  frowsy  and  unkempt,  some  were  smoking, 
and  the  scent  of  the  prison  was  so  vile  as  to  suggest 
that  if  the  odor  of  sanctity  pervades  some  holy  places 
this  must  be  the  odor  of  depravity.  Few  of  these 
men  were  imprisoned  for  less  than  four  years,  and 
one  was  to  die  on  the  morrow.  He  was  a  Chinaman, 
the  second  ever  executed  in  San  Francisco.  He  had 
committed  a  hideous  murder,  thoroughly  proven,  and 
well  deserved  his  doom,  but  upon  the  yellow  face  and 
leering  eyes  showing  at  his  window,  one  could  read  no 
remorse  for  the  crime  —  no  dread  of  the  impending 
punishment. 

Going  up  stairs  into  another  corridor  also  lined  with 
cells  we  looked  down  into  the  whitewashed  stone  yard 
of  the  prison.  Among  the  men  lounging  about  were  a 
good  many  Chinamen,  squalidly  dressed  in  shirt  and 
trowsers,  barefooted  and  shorn  of  their  pigtails  —  the 
greatest  punishment,  short  of  death,  that  the  law  can 
inflict  upon  one  of  their  nationality  ;  one  was  brought 
in  while  we  were  there,  and  hurried  across  the  yard  to 
be  clipped.  They  are  said  to  cry  and  shriek  like  little 
children  while  undergoing  this  penalty ;  and  never  re 
cover  the  self-respect  or  confidence  they  previously  had. 

A  straw  mattrass,  a  tin-pan,  plate  and  spoon  consti 
tute  all  the  furniture  of  the  cells,  and  no  effort  beyond 


142 


NEED    FOE    ANOTHER    ELIZABETH   FEY. 


occasional  whitewashing  is  ever  made  for  the  physical, 
mental  or  spiritual  improvement  of  the  condition  of 
these  unfortunate  beings.  Is  there  no  Elizabeth  Fry 
ready  to  take  up  this  good  work  ?  no  Bergh  to  do  for 
men  and  women  what  he  has  so  nobly  done  for  brutes  ? 
Let  the  nineteenth  century  answer. 


PROPITIATING  FORTUNE  BEFORE  SPECULATING.    Page  148. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

TLE   WAYS   THAT   AKB   DARK., 

A  DESCKIPTION  of  San  Francisco  which  does  not 
~L\.  include  Chinamen,  China  Town,  and  the  Chinese 
question  in  some  degree,  at  least,  would  indeed  be 
Hamlet  without  the  Prince  of  Denmark's  character,  and 
Heaven  defend  us  from  committing  such  a  solecism ! 
"What  could  be  seen  in  this  direction  we  resolved  to  see, 
and  one  fine  day  made  an  experimental  trip  in  company 
with  a  gentleman  resident  in  San  Francisco  to  some  of 
the  fashionable  Chinese  shops  in  the  American  quar 
ter.  "We  called  first  at  Chin-Lee's,  then  at  King-Lee's 
and  Chi-Lung's,  finding  their  establishments  filled  with 
much  the  same  wares  that  flood  New  York  since  the 
Exposition;  but  the  air  of  the  shops  is  more  foreign 
than  is  possible  in  an  Eastern  City,  the  atmosphere 
redolent  of  a  pungent,  delicious  odor  of  sandalwood 
and  Oriental  perfumes,  and  the  smooth,  brown,  quiet 
salesmen,  in  their  loose,  dark-blue  sacks  and  trowsers, 
with  shining  pigtails  depending  from  beneath  their 
silken  skull-caps,  heads  and  faces  smooth  as  a  baby's, 
and  their  delicate  slender  hands,  were  altogether  differ 
ent  from  the  Chinese  laundry-men  from  whom  we,  of 
the  Atlantic  Coast,  take  our  ideas  of  the  citizen  of  the 
Flowery  Kingdom.  Among  these  merchants  are  the 
highest  caste  Chinese  to  be  found  in  America,  and  their 
manners  by  no  maans  lack  the  repose  "  that  stamps  the 


144  THE   MONGOLIAN   MEECHANTS. 

caste  of  Yere  de  Vere ";  in  fact,  so  reposeful  are  they 
that  it  is  rather  difficult  to  go  shopping  among  them, 
for  they  only  exhibit  such  wares  as  are  called  for,  and 
that  in  a  mechanical  and  abstracted  manner,  as  if  their 
minds  were  occupied  rather  with  Confucius  than  glove- 
boxes,  or  some  new  astronomical  discovery  to  the  ex 
clusion  of  bric-a-brac.  The  prices  of  their  charming 
goods  are  fabulous,  and  one  hesitates  to  cheapen  any 
thing  under  the  melancholy  and  languid  gaze  of  the 
almond  eyes.  We  were  willing  to  pay  something, 
however,  for  the  pleasure  of  fancying  ourselves  in 
Nankin  or  Pekin,  and  delighted  to  ask  questions 
eliciting  low  replies  in  that  peculiar  lisping  English, 
not  broken,  but  only  jarred  just  enough  to  let  all  the 
harsh  consonants  drop  out,  especially  the  rasping  E, 
which  becomes  a  liquid  L  in  a  Chinaman's  mouth  ; 
and  when  I  asked  the  price  of  the  oddest  possible  little 
tea-pot  at  Chi  -  Lung's  and  was  informed  that  the 
preposterous  sum  demanded  was  "Yelly  little  for 
lich  Mellican  lady  to  pay,"  I  bought  it  at  once,  not 
for  the  flattery  but  the  1's  of  the  statement !  Well, 
the  tea-pot  was  lovely,  and  it  pleased  the  friend  for 
whom  it  was  bought,  and  so  she  and  I  and  Chi-Lung 
were  all  pleased,  and  was  not  the  money  well  ex 
pended? 

From  fashionable  Kearney  Street  we  turned  into 
steep  and  dingy  Munro  Street,  and  were  in  China  Town 
itself.  No  more  bric-a-brac,  no  more  silken  caps  or 
fine  cloth  clothes  or  languid  grandeur  of  manner.  Here 
all  the  houses  are  dingy,  no  two  alike ;  all  the  people 
are  poor,  and  although  universally  clean  in  person, 


CHINESE  Joss  HOUSE,  SAN  FRANCISCO.    Page  145. 


THE  'snO.P KEEPERS    IN    CHINA    TOWN.  145 

cultivate  a  squalid  and  odorous  mode  of  existence, 
both  in  shops  and  dwellings,  that  makes  extensive 
visiting  among  them  rather  distasteful  to  fastidious 
people. 

Each  little  shop  hangs  out  its  sign  oj  red  and  gilded 
paper  inscribed  with  Chinese  characters  ;  and  very  little 
English  is  spoken  or  required,  as  these  places  are 
intended  for  native  custom  exclusively.  We  entered 
several,  and  found  the  stock  in  each  to  consist  mainly 
of  shoes,  tea-pots  and  beryl  bracelets  —  all  cheap  and 
all  ugly ;  and  there  were  three  or  four  salesmen  in  each 
dark  little  shop  to  whom  the  same  description  might 
be  applied.  We  passed  along  a  row  of  butchers'  stalls, 
and  were  glad  to  remember  the  impossibility  of  our 
own  dinner  ever  coming  from  one  of  them,  for  the 
odors  were  horrible  and  the  sights  still  more  so — whole 
beeves  and  swine  being  hung  up  at  the  entrance  and 
hacked  to  pieces  almost  any  way,  as  customers  applied. 
Smoked  birds  split  and  flattened  out  like  a  sheet  of 
paper  were  also  exhibited  as  imported  from  China,  and 
fish  so  long  divorced  from  its  native  element  as  to  be 
fit  for  nothing  but  to  return  thither.  We  saw  several 
Joss-houses,  or  temples  of  Chinese  worship,  decorated 
with  lanterns,  plenty  of  red  and  gilded  paper,  and 
scarfs  and  rihbpns^  festooned  across  with  peacock *s, 
feathers.  The  upper  story  of  the  house  being  thus, 
sanctified,  the,  ground -floor  is  devoted  to,  trade,  and 
tinder  one  of  the  Joss-houses  Hoss,  WQ  &•  Co.  conduct 
their  Bureau  of  Emigration,  and  at:  the  moment  of 
our  visit  were  welcoming  a  troop  of  newly  arrived 
emigrants,  who^  came  pairing  in,  each  bearing  an, 


146  CHINA    TOWN   IN    THE   EVENING. 

immense  parcel  bound  with  straw  ropes,  and  their 
wild  and  startled  faces  shaded  by  great  umbrella 
hats  of  native  manufacture. 

But  the  mild  and  superficial  view  of  China  Town 
to  be  obtained  at  noonday  by  no  means  satisfied  our 
determination  to  make  its  intimate  acquaintance,  and 
subsequently  a  formal  expedition  was  organized  under 
conduct  of  detective  MacKenzie,  the  veteran  of  the  San 
Francisco  Police  force,  having  served  as  detective  and 
police-  officer  for  twenty -two  years  in  that  and  other 
cities.  A  little  after  eight  p.  m.  our  party  started 
for  the  Bohemian  Club  Booms,  where  we  were  joined 
by  Mr,  MacKenzie  and  five  or  six  other  persons,  and 
at  once  sallied  out.  The  detective  gave  me  his  arm, 
and  as  we  walked  down  Kearney  Street  I  tried  to  elicit 
some  of  the  anecdotes  and  reminiscences  with  which 
such  a  man's  mind  must  teem,  bufc  unfortunately  he 
had  so  thoroughly  learned  that  habit  of  discretion 
which  must  be  part  of  a  detective's  training  that  he 
could  not  speak  if  he  would,  for  I  do  not  like  to  think 
that  he  would  not  if  he  could  ;  and  the  only  memorable 
thing  he  said  in  all  that  walk  was  to  point  out  a  win 
dow  on  the  corner  of  Portsmouth  Square  and  remark : 
'•'Out  of  that  window  the  Yigilance  Committee  of  '51 
hung  their  first  man." 

From  Portsmouth  Square  we  turned  into  Dupont 
Street  and  felt  that  we  had  passed  from  the  familiar  to 
the  unknown.  In  Kearney  Street,  which  we  had  just 
left,  crowds  of  cheerful  and  busy  persons  with  bright 
and  expressive  faces  thronged  the  brightly  lighted 
sidewalks  and  the  elegant  shops,  or  were  merrily  pass- 


EXPRESSIONLESS    FEATURES    OF    THE    CHINESE.      147 

ing  into  theatres  or  concert  rooms  for  an  evening's  en 
tertainment  ;  in  Dupont  Street  the  narrow  walks  were 
scarcely  lighted  except  by  the  smoky  glare  from  the 
shop  windows,  and  the  silent-footed,  sad-eyed  passen 
gers  crept  along  the  wall,  or  stepped  from  off  the  walk 
at  our  approach,  more  like  the  shades  encountered  by 
Dante  at  the  entrance  of  the  Inferno  than  living  and 
busy  mortals.  Nothing  is  more  noticeable  about  the 
Chinese  than  this  quietude  of  face,  gait,  voice  and  man 
ner  ;  their  features  never  stir,  their  eyes  never  vary, 
their  hands  never  gesticulate  ;  they  seem  framed  with 
fewer  surface  muscles  than  Caucasians,  the  whole  sys 
tem  of  training  for  body  and  mind  seems  one  of  repres 
sion,  and  it  is  nearly  as  impossible  to  judge  by  a  Chi 
naman's  face  what  he  really  feels,  thinks,  or  wishes,  as 
to  guess  the  Sphinx's  riddle  by  contemplation  of  her 
image.  No  happier  hit  was  ever  made  than  Bret 
Harte's  poem  of  the  "Heathen  Chinee,"  but  nobody 
can  appreciate  the  phrase  "  child  -  like  and  bland  " 
until  he  has  looked  into  one  of  these  smooth  olive- 
colored,  serene  and  utterly  expressionless  faces,  and 
wondered,  in  vain  bewilderment,  what  emotions,  what 
passions,  what  opinions  of  one's  self  lay  beneath  it. 

We  stopped  at  the  entrance  to  a  black  and  narrow 
alley,  its  depths  hidden  in  tenebrous  shadow,  and  here 
our  guide  produced  and  lighted  two  candles,  whose 
gleam  faintly  illumined  the  first  few  steps  of  a  black 
and  rickety  staircase.  Up  this  the  guide  led  and  we 
followed,  walking  purely  by  faith  ;  since  nothing  was  to 
be  seen  but  the  little  patch  of  light,  the  dim  roofs  of 
houses  beneath  us,  and,  far  above,  the  cold,  pure  gleam 


148  JOSS-HOUSES  AND    JOSS-STICKS. 

of  the  stars.  As  the  candlelight  fell  upon  the  wall  at 
the  left  we  perceived  that  it  was  closely  covered  with 
scraps  of  red  and  gold  paper  inscribed  with  Chinese 
characters.  These  we  were  informed  were  prayers,  and 
this  was  one  of  the  principal  Joss-houses,  or  temples, 
and  the  faithful  visiting  hither  are  in  the  habit  of  thus 
leaving  a  sort  of  a  permanent  petition  behind  them  to 
supplement  or  perhaps  to  excuse  the  necessity  for  per 
sonal  prayer. 

Several  Chinese  men  coming  down  from  the  temple 
passed  us  upon  the  narrow  stairs,  and  very  possibly 
felt  disposed  to  fling  us  over  the  light  hand-rail  into 
the  narrow  court  below.  At  the  top  of  the  stairs  we 
passed  through  a  door  and  found  ourselves  in  a  dark 
room,  quite  bare  except  for  a  shrine  at  the  farther  end 
and  a  smaller  one  close  to  the  door,  containing  the  idol 
guardian  of  the  temple,  a  very  human  (Chinesely  speak 
ing)  wooden  gentleman,  who  sits  all  day  and  all  night 
in  his  grotesquely  carved  porter's  chair  of  a  shrine,  con 
templating  a  bronze  bowl  of  ashes  and  some  burnt  out 
Joss-sticks  standing  as  tribute  before  him.  The  larger 
and  richer  shrine  at  the  other  end  of  the  room  contains 
the  image  of  Troi-Pat-Shing-Kwun,  the  God  of  Fortune, 
who  holds  a  nugget  of  gold  in  his  hand,  and  is  sur 
rounded  with  all  sorts  of  tawdry  trappings  of  artificial 
flowers  and  tinsel.  His  bronze  bowl  of  ashes  is  larger 
and  the  tribute  of  Joss-sticks  more  plentiful ;  for,  like 
some  of  his  white  brothers,  John  Chinaman's  most 
fervent  prayers  are  offered  in  the  hope  of  temporal 
rewards  and  privileges.  Several  devotees  were  lounging 
in  the  dark  corners  of  the  room  regarding  us  with  the 


THE    SHRINES    OF    THE    DEVOTEES.  149 

usual  non-committal  blandness,  and  the  walls  all  pa 
pered  over  with  the  gay  little  prayers  in  scarlet  and 
gold,  placed  as  perpetual  reminders  of  the  wishes  of 
his  worshipers  before  the  eyes  of  Fortune.  In  front 
of  this  shrine  stood  a  screen  carved  from  a  solid  piece 
of  wood  in  all  the  minute  elaboration^we  are  familiar 
with  in  Chinese  work  of  this  sort.  It  represented  an 
ancient  battle,  and  was  really  a  very  wonderful  produc 
tion.  Its  cost  in  China  was  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  of  our  money.  From  this  room  we  passed 
through  a  maze  of  dark  and  dirty  little  rooms,  each 
presided  over  by  a  God  or  Goddess ;  all  wonderfully 
alike  ;  all  very  ugly  and  grotesque ;  all  surrounded  by 
a  tawdrily  decorated,  carved  shrine,  gilded,  arabesqued 
and  draped  with  more  or  less  costliness  and  elegance, 
according  to  the  importance  or  power  of  the  divinity. 
Before  each  shrine  hangs  a  glass  lantern  in  which  a 
light  is  constantly  kept,  and  in  front  of  each  is  the 
bronze  bowl  of  ashes  stuck  full  of  Joss-sticks,  most 
of  them  extinct,  but  some  slowly  consuming  and  send 
ing  up  clouds  of  stifling  incense  smoke.  In  some  of 
the  rooms  stood  tables  supporting  handsome  Chinese 
vases  filled  with  artificial  flowers,  and  some  pieces  of 
curious  carved  ivory,  slips  of  paper,  and  split  bamboo 
sticks  used  in  divination  or  interpretation  of  the  will 
of  the  deities  were  laid  around.  Also  miniature  copies 
of  the  idols  themselves,  probably  for  sale,  and  various 
toys  representing  beasts,  birds,  and  fishes,  objects  of 
worship  or  tradition  in  Chinese  mythology.  Before 
each  God  of  importance  stands  a  table  to  receive  the 
offerings  of  food  made  by  kind-hearted  devotees,  and 


150  CEREMONY    OF    CHINCHINNING    JOSS. 

bowls  of  tea  stand  perpetually  ready  to  allay  the  thirst 
of  the  immortals. 

In  several  of  the  rooms  we  found  worshipers  be 
fore  various  shrines,  but  only  in  the  case  of  a  woman 
prostrate  before  a  female  deity,  a  sort  of  Chinese 
Lucerna,  did  we  perceive  any  heartiness  or  absorption 
of  manner.  The  men  simply  approached  the  shrines, 
without  troubling  themselves  to  cease  their  conversa 
tion,  cease  smoking,  or  uncover  their  heads,  thrust  a 
Joss -stick  into  the  bed  of  ashes,  bow  three  times, 
slightly  and  quickly — which  ceremony  is  called  Chin- 
chinning  Joss,  and  then  retire,  perhaps  posting  up 
a  scarlet  prayer  as  they  go.  In  every  room  stands  a 
tall  wooden  structure,  like  a  very  high  four-legged 
stool,  with  a  bell  hanging  inside  of  it,  while  above  it 
is  suspended  a  gong  or  drum,  and  both  these  are  used 
by  the  priests  upon  occasions  to  arouse  the  attention 
of  the  meditative  gods,  or  to  awaken  them  from  their 
slumber.  On  hearing  this  explanation  we  could  but 
recall  the  magnificent  irony  of  Elijah  as  the  priests 
of  Baal  raged  and  howled  around  his  altar,  hacking 
themselves  with  knives,  and  shrieking  to  him  in  vain 
for  a  manifestation  of  his  power,  and  the  grim  prophet 
taunted  them  with :  "  Cry,  aloud,  for  he  is  a  God ; 
either  he  is  talking,  or  he  is  pursuing,  or  he  is  on  a 
journey,  or  he  is  asleep  1 " 

In  the  corner  of  one  dismal  little  room,  enshrined 
in  a  rickety  wooden  box,  stood  Shon-Ton,  or  the 
Devil,  represented  with  a  very  European  cast  of  coun 
tenance  and  dressed  in  dirty  white ;  he  is  especially 
entreated  in  time  of  sickness,  the  friends  of  the  suf- 


DIVINITIES    OF    THE    CHINESE.  151 

fjrer  bringing  all  sorts  of  delicate  food,  the  essence 
or  substance  of  which  he  is  supposed  to  imbibe  as  they 
stand   before   him  for  two    or   three    days,  when  the 
remains  are  removed  to  be  distributed  among  the  poor 
at  the  sick  man's  door.    The  other  divinities  are  Kovan- 
Tai,  a  most  bellicose  and  violently  whiskered  person 
age  ;  Wah-Taw,  the  God  of  Medicine  or  Chinese  Escu- 
lapius,  who  performed  his  cures  in  the  remote  antiquity 
by  laying-on  of  hands ;  Yun  -Ten  -Tin,  the  God  of  the 
Sombre   Heavens,  who   presides   over   the    elements, 
and  is  represented  as  sitting  in  a  tree,  and  preventing 
or  dispersing  fire  and  drought  —  two  of  the  principal 
errors  of  the  Chinese  ;  the  Goddess  of  the  Lake,  rising 
out  of  a  lotus  flower,  is  said  to  have  emigrated  from 
Egypt  to  China  and  established  a  code  of  laws  there. 
Side  by  side  in  one  shrine  sat  the  Goddess  of  the  Sea, 
and  the  Goddess  of  Love,  the  Chinese  Yenus — to  whom 
our  guide  applied  a  more  emphatic  name.     These,  with 
the  God   of  East  Mountain,  one  of  the  three   sacred 
mountains  of  China,  were  the  most  prominent  of  those 
we  saw ;  but  there  were  quite  as  many  others,  petty 
divinities,  each  devoting  his  attention  to  some  venial 
sire,  for  whose  forgiveness  and  correction  he  is  implor 
ed,  and  not  one  of  them,  from  the  great  Joss   to   the 
Devil,  or  any  ornaments  of  the  temple,  but    may  be 
bought,  even  by  the  "white-faced  devil"  in  whose  land 
John  has  made  his  home  ! 

In  one  room  was  an  adobe  oven,  where,  at  certain 
times,  Satan  is  burned  symbolically  by  means  of  red 
paper.  Across  one  of  the  little  rooms  extends  a 
counter,  and  behind  it  stood  two  or  three  priests,  who 


152  CU1UOSITY   OF    THE    STREET    CEO  WD. 

sell  Joss-sticks,  Joss-paper,  incense  candles,  and  little 
images,  for  the  support  of  themselves  and  the  temple. 
They  beamed  upon  us  a  little  more  blandly  or  a  little 
more  innocently  then  their  subtle  lay-brothers,  and 
one  of  them  offered  a  little  idol  with  the  soft  inquiry 
'•  Mellican  lady  want  ?  " 

Making  our  way  down  the  dark  stairs  we  strolled 
along  Dupont  Street  for  a  short  distance;  wherever 
we  paused,  a  crowd  of  blue-bloused,  olive-skinned 
pig-tailed  figures  gathered  silently  and  closely  about 
us,  contemplating  us  with  melancholy,  moony  faces, 
and  ray  less  eyes.  At  a  broker's  or  money-lender's  we 
stopped  to  look  in  through  the  window  at  a  bright 
little  Chinaman  counting  silver  money  in  a  most 
marvelously  rapid  manner.  He  looked  up  and  smiled, 
and  we  all  walked  in  without  further  invitation,  followed 
by  as  many  of  the  street  crowd  as  could  enter,  all  beam 
ing  with  delight  at  haying  us  so  much  more  under 
observation  than  in  the  street.  The  young  man  in 
formed  us  that  he  was  seventeen  years  old,  high-caste, 
as  denoted  by  his  long  finger-nails.  A  sketch  was 
made  of  him  by  the  young  lady  while  the  rest  were 
talking,  and  about  a  dozen  Chinamen  gathered  about 
her  to  watch  its  progress,  and  seemed  highly  delight 
ed.  She  gave  them  her  sketch-book  to  look  at,  and 
they  laughed  over  it,  talking  glibly  among  themselves, 
and  expressing  admiration  in  broken  English.  Bid 
ding  the  pretty  lad,  whose  name  was  Lee -Yip,  good- 
by,  we  made  our  way  into  the  street,  not  without 
difficulty,  owing  to  the  crowd,  which  evidently  discussed 
us  freely,  and,  as  we  could  not  but  suspect,  in  a  jeer- 


THE    CHINAMAN'S    TONSOEIAL    LUXURY.  153 

ing  and  uncomplimentary  manner,  although  on  every 
face  beamed  the  child-like  and  bland  smile,  and  what 
ever  was  spoken  in  English  was  of  the  most  flattering 
nature. 

The  barbers'  shops  are  numerous  and  well  patron 
ized,  since  it  is  impossible  for  any  man  to  himself 
perform  the  complicated  and  tedious  process,  of  which 
we  caught  glimpses  now  and  again  in  the  bare  little 
basement  rooms,  whose  only  furniture  consists  of  a 
bench,  a  chair  for  the  patient  and  a  washstand  and 
bowl.  Once  in  that  chair  the  applicant  for  "a  shave" 
had  need  assume  his  whole  stock  of  patience,  for  out 
of  it  he  does  not  rise  until  every  inch  of  skin  above  his 
shoulders,  except  the  small  portion  of  scalp  whence 
the  queue  depends,  is  shaved,  scraped,  washed,  pol 
ished,  and  minutely  inspected.  The  pigtail  is  unbraid- 
ed,  cleansed,  re-oiled  and  re-braided;  the  eyes,  ears 
and  nose  are  manipulated  ;  and  certainly  whatever  may 
be  said  of  his  style  of  beauty,  a  Chinaman  just  out  of 
his  barber's  hands  is  about  as  exquisitely  clean,  from 
his  shoulders  upward,  as  it  is  possible  to  imagine. 

The  small  dimensions  of  the  shops  and  their 
crowded  condition  both  as  to  animate  and  inanimate 
stock  impressed  us  strongly,  and  Mr.  MacKenzie  in- 
ormed  us  that  this  is  due  solely  to  the  home -train 
ing  of  the  Chinese,  who,  having  been  educated  to 
economize  every  square  inch  of  space,  every  handful 
of  earth,  and,  as  it  were,  the  oxygen  of  an  atmosphere 
inadequate  to  support  all  who  are  born  to  breathe  it, 
find  themselves  more  at  ease  in  these  narrow  quarters 
than  in  wider  ones;  and  the  first  operation  of  a 


154        DOMESTIC   PECULIARITIES    OF    THE    CHINESE. 

business  firm  in  renting  a  shop  or  warehouse,  or  of  a 
family  in  hiring  a  house,  is  to  cut  it  all  up  into  little 
tiny  boxes  of  rooms,  put  in  any  number  of  shelves 
and  cupboards,  stretch  lines  over  head  to  hang  things 
upon,  and  reduce  themselves  generally  to  a  condition 
of  crowd,  discomfort  and  clutter  most  repugnant  to  the 
American's  habit  of  mind,  but  apparently  the  height  of 
convenience  to  that  of  the  Oriental. 


CHINESE  BARBER,  SAN  FRANCISCO.    Page  153. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

ACT  LEG.,  SCENE   102.      AN   OPIUM O)EN. 

OUR  next  visit  was  to  the  Royal  Chinese  Theatre  on 
Jackson  Street.  The  drama  is  one  of  the  great 
est  luxuries  of  the  Chinaman,  who  frequents  it  constantly 
when  in  funds ;  nor  does  this  imply  great  wealth,  since 
the  admission  fee  is  two  bits — twenty-five  cents- — at 
the  beginning,  fifteen  cents  toward  the  middle,  and 
only  ten  cents  near  the  end,  of  the  performance. 
This  frequently  lasts  six  or  seven  hours,  closing  at  two 
or  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  a  single  play 
requires  three  months  or  longer  for  one  exhibition — 
an  act  or  two  being  rendered  each  evening.  These 
plays  are  nearly  all  based  upon  ancient  historical 
events,  the  conservatism  of  the  Chinese  objecting  to 
any  modern  innovations,  and  disdaining  all  sensational 
effects.  There  are  no  great  playwrights  in  Chinese 
literature,  and  the  profession  of  actor  is  not  considered 
creditable,  so  that  no  great  exertions  toward  supe 
riority  are  made  by  those  filling  it.  Actresses  are 
unknown,  the  female  parts  being  filled  by  men  coarsely 
painted  and  tawdrily  dressed.  Nearly  all  the  per 
formance  is  in  pantomime,  and  when  speech  is  con 
sidered  advisable  it  is  uttered  in  a  high,  harsh  falsetto, 
entirely  unlike  the  human  voice. 

Entering  from  the  street  we  passed  through  a  long 
passage  where    a  Chinaman   behind    a    counter   was 


156  THEATRICAL    PERFORMANCES. 

selling  native  delicacies,  such  as  figs,  dark -looking 
sweetmeats,  sugar-cane,  betel-nuts  wrapped  up  in  green 
leaves  and  decorated  with  red  paint  and  slices  ol 
citron.  Inside  we  found  a  perfectly  bare  and  undec- 
orated  auditorium,  the  parquette  filled  with  rude 
wooden  benches,  a  gallery  above  and  another  smaller 
one  for  women,  who  are  not  allowed  in  the  body  of 
the  house.  The  stage  was  a  mere  raised  platform  like 
that  in  a  lecture -room  with  a  flight  of  steps  at  each 
end  descending  to  the  parquette.  There  was  no  scen 
ery  of  any  kind,  but  at  either  wing  a  red  -  curtained 
doorway,  through  which  exits  and  entrances  are  made 
quite  without  disguise  or  ceremony;  even  when  a 
death  is  represented,  the  actor,  after  going  through 
the  contortions  and  struggles  of  the  last  agony,  gets 
up  and  quietly  walks  off  through  one  of  these  door 
ways,  nodding  and  smiling  to  his  fellow  actors  or  the 
musicians.  The  latter  sit  in  a  row  at  the  back  of  the 
stage,  between  the  two  doors,  pounding  away  indus 
triously  at  the  gong  or  cymbals,  or  scraping  the  little 
Chinese  fiddles.  They  seem  to  have  no  method  in 
their  madness,  but  just  bang  away  independently — each 
man  making  as  much  noise  as  possible. 

When  we  entered,  three  actors  were  upon  the  stage, 
going  through  a  stormy  pantomime  to  the  accompani 
ment  of  the  orchestra.  The  man  seemed  to  be  having 
a  stirring  scene  with  his  wife,  who  was  aided  and 
abetted  by  her  maid  in  a  most  un-Celestial  domestic 
rebellion ;  finally  he  gave  her  a  push,  closed  an  im 
aginary  door  between  them  and  stood  triumphant, 
while  she — or  the  man  representing  a  she  —  ran  up 


OROTESQUENESS    OF    THE   ACTOES.  157 

and  down,  pushed  against  nothing,  beat  the  air  sup 
posed  to  be  the  door,  until  finally  both  walked  calmly 
off  and  tho  scene  ended.  The  curtain  at  the  other 
end  of  the  stage  was  then  withdrawn,  and  a  warrior 
stalked  forth  who  might  as  well  have  represented  a 
Pawnee  Brave  as  a  Celestial  hero,  for  his  form  was 
swathed  in  a  mass  of  indescribable  and  very  gaudy 
raiment,  and  his  face  painted  in  stripes  of  brilliant 
color.  He  wore  clusters  of  flaps  at  each  shoulder  like 
wings,  his  head  was  decorated  with  pheasant's  feathers, 
and  his  beard  and  moustache  were  fearful  to  behold. 
This  champion  strode  across  the  stage,  whirled  round 
and  round,  stood  on  one  leg,  shook  his  fists,  and  gen 
erally  expressed  defiance  and  combativeness  until 
some  more  warriors  rushed  in  through  the  other 
doorway,  apparently  accepting  the  challenge,  and  these 
were  followed  by  an  army  of  women  under  the  leader 
ship  of  an  Amazon,  who  was  rather  the  most  manly 
man  present.  Then  these  grotesque  and  phantom-like 
figures  began  a  series  of  the  strangest  evolutions, 
marching  in  and  out,  around  each  other,  backward  and 
forward,  all  making  the  same  ferocious  and  monotonous 
gestures,  to  the  accompaniment  of  that  frightful  discord, 
of  barbaric  sound,  until  it  all  seemed  more  like  a 
feverish  dream,  the  fancy  of  a  lunatic,  or  the  vision 
of  an  opium  eater  than  an  actual  stage  peopled  with 
human  beings.  Each  warrior  as  he  entered  threw  one 
leg  in  the  air  and  spun  round  upon  the  other ;  this 
represented  the  act  of  dismounting  from  his  horse; 
and  regardless  ol  the  fate  of  the  imaginary  charger 
he  plunged  at  once  into  the  battle,  which  finally 


158  ACROBATIC   AGILITY. 

culminated  in  the  most  grotesque  scene  possible  to 
imagine,  when  ten  or  a  dozen  men,  stripped  to  the 
waist  and  ranged  in  a  line,  turned  somersaults  across 
the  stage,  a  row  of  whirling  figures  hurled  through 
the  air  like  so  many  balls,  each  one  flinging  himself 
fully  six  feet  in  air  and  spinning  round  like  a  wheel 
so  fast  that  the  eye  could  scarcely  follow  him. 
Presently  the  battle  seemed  to  be  forgotten,  or  to  have 
resolved  itself  into  a  friendly  acrobatic  struggle,  for 
the  warriors  began  to  vie  with  each  other  not  only 
in  the  length  and  rapidity  of  their  somersaults,  but 
they  jumped  over  large  tables,  alighting  on  the  flat 
of  their  backs  with  such  a  jar  that  one  would  expect 
every  bone  in  their  bodies  to  be  broken ;  but  every 
man  leaped  up  so  nimbly  as  to  prove  that  no  harm 
was  done,  and  directly  did  the  same  thing  or  something 
as  remarkable,  with  unabated  force.  Finally  the  scene 
culminated  in  the  performances  of  a  half-naked  man, 
with  his  nose  painted  of  a  glaring  white,  who  did  every 
thing  but  turn  himself  inside  out :  he  tied  his  legs 
around  his  neck,  jumped  on  his  elbows,  stood  on  the 
crown  of  his  head  with  his  arms  folded,  and  propelled 
himself  around  the  stage  on  acute  angles  of  his  frame 
without  the  aid  of  either  legs  or  arms,  until  there  was 
absolutely  no  contortion  of  the  muscles  left  for  him 
to  achieve,  and  then  he  left  off!  Our  party,  the  only 
Americans  in  the  house,  gave  him  a  round  of  applause, 
at  which  the  silent  Celestials  turned  and  grinned 
at  us  in  wonder  and  derision,  and  we  got  up  and  went 
out.  They  never  applaud  or  disapprove  anything,  but 
sit  stolidly  and  smoke  throughout  the  performance, 


AN    OPIUM   DEN.  159 

the  women  in  the  gallery  also  indulging  in  this  luxury, 
and  patronizing  the  vender  of  sugar-cane  and  sweet 
meats,  who  walks  about  with  a  basket  of  these  dainties 
on  his  head,  but  does  not  break  the  sombre  silence 
by  crying  his  wares. 

From  the  theatre  we  were  taken  t<5  visit  an  Opium 
Den,  as  we  of  the  East  are  prone  to  call  the  tabazies, 
where  the  Celestial  seeks  respite  from  toil  and  pri 
vation  and  home-sickness  in  the  indulgence  of  a  habit 
not  so  horrible  after  all  as  drunkenness  of  another 
nature ;  since  the  opium  smoker  injures  only  himself, 
and  the  man  crazed  by  liquor  is  dangerous  to  his 
family  and  the  community  at  large  ! 

Passing  through  an  alley-way,  we  entered  a  per 
fectly  dark  court  where  nothing  was  to  be  seen  but  so 
much  to  be  smelled  that  the  imagination  became  more 
painful  than  the  reality  could  have  been.  A  light 
twinkled  from  some  windows  on  a  level  with  the  side 
walk,  and  our  guide  unceremoniously  pushing  open 
the  door  led  us  into  a  small,  close,  but  apparently 
clean  room,  filled  with  the  fumes  of  burning  opium — 
resembling  those  of  roasting  ground-nuts,  and  not 
disagreeable.  A  table  stood  in  the  centre,  and  around 
three  sides  ran  a  double  tier  of  shelves  and  bunks, 
covered  with  matting  and  with  round  logs  of  wood 
with  a  space  hollowed  out,  cushioned  or  bare,  for 
pillows.  Nearly  all  of  these  were  filled  with  China 
men,  many  of  them  containing  two,  with  a  little  tray 
between  them,  holding  a  lamp  and  a  horn  box  filled 
with  the  black,  semi-liquid  opium  paste.  But  although 
every  one  was  smoking,  it  was  so  early  in  the  evening 


160  ffOW    OPIUM   IS    SMOKED. 

that  the  drug  had  not  as  yet  wrought  its  full  effect, 
and  all  were  wide  awake,  talking,  laughing,  and 
apparently  enjoying  themselves  hugely.  The  largest 
of  the  Chinamen  was  lying  upon  the  shelf  nearest  the 
door,  preparing  his  first  pipe.  He  looked  up  and 
nodded  as  we  crowded  around  him,  and  then  calmly 
continued  his  occupation,  we  watching  the  modus 
operandi  with  considerable  interest.  The  pipe  waa 
a  little  stone  bowl,  no  larger  than  a  baby's  thimble, 
with  an  orifice  in  the  bottom  the  size  of  a  pin's  head. 
This  bowl  is  screwed  on  to  the  side  of  a  long  bamboo 
stem,  and  the  smoker,  taking  up  a  mass  of  the  opium 
paste  upon  the  end  of  a  wire,  holds  it  to  the  flame 
of  the  lamp  until  it  is  slightly  hardened,  and  then 
works  it  into  the  pipe,  inhaling  strongly  as  he  does 
so,  and  drawing  the  smoke  deep  into  his  lungs,  where 
it  remains  for  a  moment  and  then  is  ejected  through 
the  nostrils,  leaving  its  fatal  residuum  behind ;  for 
opium  is  an  accumulative  poison,  and  when  once 
the  system  becomes  saturated  with  it,  there  is  no 
release  from  the  misery  it  entails  but  death.  The  tiny 
"charge"  constituting  one  pipe-full  is  soon  exhausted, 
and  holding  the  last  whiff  as  long  as  possible,  the 
smoker  prepares  another,  and  another  and  yet  another, 
as  long  as  he  can  control  his  muscles,  until,  at  last, 
the  nerveless  hand  falls  beside  him,  the  pipe  drops  from 
his  fingers,  and  his  head  falls  back  in  heavy  stupor, 
the  face  ghastly  white,  the  eyes  glazed  and  lifeless, 
the  breathing  stertorous,  the  mind  wandering  away 
in  visions  like  those  De  Quincey  has  given  to  the  world 
in  the  "Confessions  of  an  Opium  Eater."  Looking 


EFFECTS    OF    OPIUM   SMOKING.  161 

at  the  stalwart  Chinaman,  with  his  intelligent  face  and 
fresh,  clean  costume,  we  tried  to  fancy  this  loathsome 
change  passing  upon  him  and  felt  quite  guilty,  as  he 
looked  up  with  a  twinkling  smile  and  offering  us  the 
lighted  pipe  said  :  "  Havee  Smokee  ?"  and  when  we 
declined,  held  out  the  wire  with  the  little  ball  on  the 
end  for  us  to  smell.  As  we  talked  to  this  man,  we 
were  startled  by  perceiving  two  persons  curled  up  in 
the  bunk  below  his  shelf,  both  smoking  and  watching 
us  with  their  narrow  slits  of  eyes  like  crouching  wild 
beasts.  They  did  not  speak,  but  our  friend  above 
answered  all  our  questions  in  a  cool,  matter-of-course 
sort  of  a  way,  and  with  an  amiable  superciliousness 
of  manner.  We  bade  him  good-by  and  went  out,  his 
eyes  following  us  with  a  look  and  a  laugh  strangely 
resembling  a  sneer.  Perhaps,  carrying  out  the  proverb 
in  vino  veritas,  there  is  something  about  the  first  stages 
of  opium  intoxication  dispelling  to  customary  caution 
and  disguise,  for  in  that  sneering  look  and  laugh 
we  seemed  at  last  to  get  the  true  expression  of  feeling 
which  forever  haunts  the  writer  as  the  real  meaning 
underlying  the  bland,  smiling  or  inane  exterior,  pre 
sented  to  us  by  these  Celestials. 

"We  looked  into  another  room  in  the  same  court 
much  smaller  but  better  furnished,  the  bunks  neatly 
fitted  up  with  mattrasses  and  each  containing  its  little 
tray  with  the  lamp,  pipe,  and  opium  all  ready  for  the 
smokers  not  yet  arrived.  Our  guide  informed  us 
in  a  mysterious  tone  that  there  are  yet  other  opium 
dens  to  which  access  is  impossible  except  to  the 
initiated,  where  may  be  found  at  a  later  hour  of  the 


162  USE    Of    OPIUM   13  Y   WHITE   PEOPLE. 

niglit  young  men  and  women  as  "white  as  you  are" 
as  he  said,  and  with  no  drop  of  Mongolian  blood 
to  excuse  their  participation  in  this  imported  vice. 

"Not  respectable  Americans?"  asked  some  cne 
incredulously,  and  the  detective,  with  a  glance  inscru 
table  as  the  Sphinx,  replied  : 

"That's  according  to  what  you  call  respectable. 
The  women  I  don't  suppose  are  generally  received 
in  your  society,  but  as  for  the  men — well,  a  lady  would 
be  surprised,  sometimes,  if  she  knew  just  how  the 
gentleman  she  has  danced  with  all  the  evening  spends 
the  rest  of  the  night!" 

"  If  Asmodeus  could  visit  San  Francisco  and  take 
as  on  one  of  his  flying  trips  over  the  tops  of  these 
houses  with  the  power  of  unroofing  them  as  we 
passed,  we  should  see  some  strange  scenes,"  thought 
fully  murmured  the  poet  of  the  party,  and  officer 
MacKenzie,  with  one  of  his  keen  glances,  replied : 

"  I  don't  know  much  about  flying  through  the  air, 
but  I  reckon  I  can  show  you  as  strange  and  tough 
a  sight  as  you  want  to  see,  if  you  like  to  risk  it, 
for  the  ladies." 


OUR  "HIGH  CASTE"  CHINESE  ACCOUNTANT.    Page  153. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

WORSE     THAN     DEATH.. 

rT^HIS  is  pretty  rough,"  said  the  guide,  stopping 

JL      at  the  entrance  of  a  dark  and  dismal  court, 

whose  odors  seemed  even  more  sickening  and  deadly 

than  those  we  had  breathed  before  ;  "  but  say  the  word 

and  I  will  take  you  in." 

The  word  was  said,  and  stumbling  up  some  crazy 
stairs  we  found  ourselves  at  last  in  a  narrow  balcony 
overhanging  the  reeking  court.  Some  Chinese  women 
clustered  at  the  end  of  this  balcony  staring  at  us, 
behind  them  was  a  shrine  containing  the  Goddess 
of  Love,  with  gilt  paper  and  Joss-sticks  burning  in  the 
tray  before  her.  From  this  gallery  we  passed  into 
the  house  and  became  involved  in  a  perfect  honey 
comb  of  little  rooms,  dimly  lighted,  or  not  lighted 
at  all ;  no  doors  were  visible,  the  doorways  being 
shaded  by  long,  pink  calico  curtains,  and  as  they  blew 
or  were  drawn  aside  we  saw  every  room  crowded  with 
men  and  a  few  women,  smoking,  drinking  tea,  or  play 
ing  at  dominoes  or  cards.  Every  room  we  entered 
was  exceedingly  clean,  and  the  inmates  looked  remark 
ably  neat  and  tidy.  Some  effort  at  decoration  was 
visible  in  the  way  of  gilt  and  red  paper,  bright-colored 
scarves  and  peacocks'  feathers  upon  the  walls,  and 
pretty  little  Chinese  tea-pots  and  other  pottery  upon 
the  tables  and  shelves.  Everyone  was  smiling  and 


164:  "NO,    NO,    ME    NO    MALLY,    NO    WIFE!" 

bland  as  possible,  and  seemed  overjoyed  to  receive 
a  call;  in  one  room  especially,  where  a  man  and 
woman  and  some  boys  were  all  squeezed  up  together 
in  a  space  of  six  feet  square  or  so,  they  all  chatted 
and  laughed  and  stared  as  if  we  were  long  lost  broth 
ers  at  least,  asking  "What  you  wantee?  "Where  you 
comee  from?"  and  saying  "Glad  to  see  you,  come 
again  velly  soon !"  at  parting,  in  the  most  sociable 
manner  possible. 

In  another  room  was  a  fat,  good-looking  woman 
of  thirty  or  so,  with  her  hair  elaborately  coiled,  puffed 
and  ornamented  with  bright  gold  pins,  making  tea 
at  a  little  table  set  out  with  queer  cups  and  saucers 
which  excited  our  ceramic  covetousness ;  the  room 
was  very  small  and  very  neat,  with  a  bed  in  one  corner 
enclosed  with  white  curtains  tied  with  scarves  at 
the  corners,  and  upon  the  bed  a  little  tray  holding  two 
vases  of  lilacs  and  other  common  flowers,  besides  a 
lamp,  pipe,  and  opium  box ;  curled  up  beside  this  fes 
tive  preparation  lay  a  man  who  arose  and  welcomed  us 
with  great  enthusiasm  and  seemed  so  much  at  home 
that  we  concluded  he  must  be  the  host,  and  after 
complimenting  him  upon  the  flowers  decking  his 
opium  tray,  the  neatness  of  the  room  and  the  pretty 
tea-service,  we  inquired  if  the  woman  were  his  wife ; 
but  at  this  he  seemed  very  much  amused,  laughed 
a  great  deal  and  said  :  "  No,  no,  me  no  mally,  no  wife  ; 
no  mally  at  all !"  and  the  woman  seemed  as  much 
delighted  as  himself  at  the  absurd  mistake. 

In  another  room  we  found  a  dozen  men  or  more 
and  one  woman  crowded  around  a  table  playing  cards  ; 


WOMEN    SACRIFICED     TO    LIVES    OF    INFAMY.         165 

the  woman  was  by  no  means  unattractive  and  wore 
beautiful  earrings  and  had  a  large  diamond  ring,  and 
on  her  fat  and  pretty  arms  bracelets  which  our  guide 
said  were  twenty-carat-fine  gold.  She  showed  us  these 
ornaments  with  much  pride,  and  on  our  admiring  them 
paid  us  the  Spanish  compliment  of  saying  they  would 
better  become  us  than  herself.  When  asked  if  they 
were  gifts  from  some  of  these  gentlemen  she  answered 
with  a  sudden  assumption  of  dignity  :  "  Me  got  velly 
good  husband,  me  m allied  woman  1"  We  assured  her 
that  we  were  delighted  to  hear  such  favorable  accounts 
of  her  condition,  and  so  passed  on,  peeping  into  a 
dozen  or  more  little  rooms,  all  crowded  with  men  and 
a  few  women,  but  no  babies,  no  little-  children,  nothing 
to  relieve  the  brazen  face  of  the  whole  establishment. 
The  women  were  mostly  without  beauty  or  grace, 
and  usually  dressed  in  dingy  blue  sacks  with  huge 
sleeves,  their  hair  drawn  back  and  curiously  puffed, 
coiled  or  plaited  behind.  They  all  wore  the  mechan 
ical  smile  which  seems  part  of  the  national  character ; 
but  their  faces  were  thin  and  haggard,  and  the  paint 
did  not  disguise  the  wan  -weariness-  which  was  eating 
away  their  lives.  These  poor  creatures  are  most 
of  them  bred  to  evil  from  infancy  by  parents  who 
make  merchandise  of  them  in  early  girlhood.  Some 
times  the  wretched  creature  sacrifices  herself,,  signing- 
a  contract  and  receiving  a  certain  sum  in  advance  for 
services  during  a  term  of  years  or  for  life ;  the  larger 
part  of  which  sum  goes  to  the  broker  or  intermediary. 
These  slaves  —  for  they  are  so  considered,  and,  as  a. 
general  thing,  are  very  harshly  and  penuriously 


166  REVOLTING    FEMININE    TRAFFIC-. 

treated — receive  only  a  maintenance  and  coarse  clothing 
during  their  brief  period  of  health,  and  when  overtaken 
by  sickness  are  turned  out  to  die  in  any  hole  they  can 
creep  into. 

Great  discontent  exists  among  the  better  class 
of  San  Franciscans  at  the  constant  importation  of 
these  slaves  from  China,  the  open  and  revolting  traffic 
forming  a  terrible  satire  upon  the  hecatomb  of  the 
best  lives  of  our  own  country  sacrificed  in  the  late 
war  to  abolish  Negro  Slavery ! 

Coming  out  of  this  house,  we  passed  a  row  of  tiny 
windows,  breast-high  to  a  man,  looking  out  upon  the 
narrow  sidewalk  of  the  court,  at  each  of  which  appeared 
the  face  of  a  woman,  the  little  room  behind  her  as 
bright  and  attractive  as  she  knew  how  to  make  it ; 
one  in  especial  was  quite  illuminated  and  decked  with 
flowers  and  draperies,  and  the  inmate,  a  rather  pretty 
young  girl,  was  singing  in  a  sort  of  cooing  little  voice. 

These  unlortunates  are  seldom  reclaimed ;  they 
feel  no  sense  of  sin  or  shame  in  their  lives,  and  if  well 
treated  are  quite  content.  Occasionally  the  Christian 
Missionaries  who  wage  an  unequal  and  all  but 
hopeless  warfare  against  heathendom  in  San  Francisco 
succeed  in  persuading  one  of  them  to  escape  and 
accept  such  refuge  as  charity  provides  for  them ;  but 
as  a  general  thing  their  masters  succeed  in  tracing 
them  and  show  willingness  to  expend  more  money  and 
time  in  repossessing  themselves  of  them  than  the 
victim  can  possibly  be  worth,  and  the  last  state  of  these 
reclaimed  slaves  is  worse  than  the  first. 

There  are  said  to  be  about  fifteen  hundred  Chinese 


A   HUMILIATING    CONFESSION".  167 

women  of  this  class  in  San  Francisco;  seven-tenths 
of  all  who  come  to  this  country  belonging  to  its  dismal 
ranks,  and  it  is  surmised  that  not  more  than  a  hundred 
reputable  Chinese  married  women  are  to  be  found 
in  the  city,  the  inducements  to  ,the  better  class 
of  men  to  bring  their  families  to  these  shores  being 
small  indeed,  for  the  free  and  noble  principles  of  our 
government  suffer  insult  and  wrong,  not  only  at  the 
hands  of  slave-dealers  but  at  those  of  our  own  people, 
who  permit  the  ruffians  infesting  San  Francisco  to  rob, 
insult  and  maltreat  the  Chinaman  at  every  turn,  reveng 
ing  upon  him,  as  is  the  habit  of  degraded  natures,  the 
galling  sense  of  their  own  baseness  and  inferiority. 

Let  us  close  this  painful  subject,  with  a  confession 
of  its  most  repulsive  phase.  We  were  informed  that 
the  most  beautiful  and  accomplished  imported  Travia- 
tas  in  China  Town  were  intended  for  and  maintained 
by  white  gentlemen  exclusively.  Let  us  subscribe 
liberally  to  the  mission  to  Borrioboola  Gha,  and  send 
flannel  waistcoats  to  Afghanistan,  and  then  let  us 
devote  what  is  left  of  our  money  and  energy  and 
Christian  zeal  to  the  conversion  of  these  "gentlemen," 
and  the  Hoodlum  who  maims  and  insults  and  robs 
the  honest  Chinese  laborer! 


POISON  OAK,  CAL. 


CHAPTEE  XVTH 

SUPPER  AT  A  CELESTIAL  RESTAURANT. 

"  rj^HERE  were  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  gam- 
_l_  bling- houses  in  China  Town  a  year  ago,  and 
I  suppose  there  are  fully  half  as  many  now,  and  I  wish 
I  knew  the  precise  address  of  one  of  them,"  remarked 
officer  MacKenzie  pensively,  as  we  stood  once  more  in 
the  open  street.  "When  the  outcry  against  Chinese 
cheap  labor  started  up,  the  authorities  made  a  raid 
upon  all  sorts  of  little  games  down  here,  and  managed, 
not  to  cure  John  of  gambling,  for  that  can't  be  done, 
but  to  teach  him  to  hide  himself  so  cunningly  that 
no  one  but  the  -Father  of  Lies  himself  can  find  him 
out.  If  we  hear  of  a  house  and  make  a  descent  upon 
it,  we  never  find  anything  but  the  sleepiest,  honestest, 
smilingest  old  Chinaman,  just  getting  out  of  bed  and 
maybe  offering  us  a  cup  of  tea  because  it  is  such 
a  cold  night.  Every  gambling  -  house  has  three  street 
doors  to  pass  through,  and  at  each  one  sits  a  man  with 
the  string  of  a  bell  close  at  hand,  and  the  minute  there 
is  trouble,  the  bells  ring,  the  porters  disappear,  and 
the  company  inside  scamper  away  like  rats  into  their 
holes.  It  don't  pay  to  look  'em  up,  and  in  a  few 
months  things  will  get  back  about  as  bad  as  ever  1'* 
"What  is  their  favorite  game?"  asked  "our" 
artist  with  interest. 

"  They  tell  me  if;  is  a  game  called  Tan,  very  muen- 
like  the  game  of  '  Faro,'  if  you  ever  happened  to  hear 


MIDNIGHT    WANDERINGS.  3.69 

of  that,  young  man,"  replied  the  detective,  coolly ; "  but 
they  can  take  a  hand  at  euchre." 

"  Yes,  Ah-Sin  played  at  that,  played  it  on  "William 
and  me  in  the  game  he  did  not  understand,"  put  in 
somebody  else  ;  but  our  guide,  more  realistic  than 
poetical  in  his  temperament,  suddenly  paused,  and, 
pointing  to  two  alleys  branching  off  at  right  angles 
from  the  court  where  we  stood,  informed  us  that  one 
was  Bull  Kun,  and  the  other  Murderers'  Alley,  so  named 
by  the  Spaniards,  who  had  given  this  locality  a  bad 
reputation  before  the  Celestials  dawned  upon  it.  Our 
friend  had  been  a  policeman  here  in  those  days,  and  said 
it  was  unsafe  for  any  man  to  walk  through  these  alleys 
after  dark.  "  And  just  about  this  spot,"  said  he,  "  we 
used  to  find  a  man  almost  every  morning  before  break 
fast,  served  up  all  stark."  It  made  one's  blood  run 
cold  to  hear  such  things  so  spoken  of,  and  then  to 
look  up  between  the  dark  rows  of  frowsy  houses  to 
the  stars  whose  cold,  clear,  eyes  had  looked  down  upon 
all  these  scenes. 

We  wandered  on  through  little  alleys  lighted  only 
from  the  provision  shops  which  abound,  and  crowded 
by  Chinamen  talking,  laughing,  singing,  shrieking  the 
wares  they  carried  for  sale,  hung  in  baskets  from 
the  end  of  long  bamboo  poles,  or  else  gathering  in 
knots  to  gaze  at  and  discuss  the  strangers.  Nobody 
seemed  to  think  of  going  to  bed  or  to  sleep,  although 
it  was  now  very  near  midnight. 

We  went  into  one  more  shop,  a  gold  and  silver 
smith's,  where  five  or  six  men  were  as  busy  as  if  at 
mid-day,  drawing  the  gold  out  in  wire,  beating  it  into 


170  THE    GENUINE    NATIONAL    CUISINE. 

thin  plates  or  engraving  and  chasing.  The  lamps 
illuminating  this  midnight  toil,  and  indeed  almost 
all  the  lamps  we  saw  in  China  Town,  were  common  glass 
tumblers,  filled  with  oil,  in  which  floated  a  substance 
like  vermicelli,  and  said  to  be  a  weed,  imported  from 
China  for  this  purpose. 

Weary  in  body  and  mind,  we  accepted  the  sugges 
tion  of  our  guide,  and  were  conducted  to  the  best 
purely  Chinese  Restaurant  in  this  quarter  of  the  city, 
although  finer  ones  are  to  be  found  a  little  out  of 
China  Town,  to  which  the  wealthy  merchants  are  in 
the  habit  of  inviting  their  customers  and  friends.  Our 
desire,  however,  was  more  to  see  the  true  national 
cuisine  than  to  indulge  in  a  feast,  and  we  presently 
stopped  before  a  house  with  a  provision  shop  occupy 
ing  the  ground-floor  and  the  two  stories  above  used 
as  saloons  and  refreshment  rooms.  The  furniture 
was  all  of  carved  ebony  or  some  other  black,  polished 
wood,  very  rich  and  tasteful,  and  the  rooms  were  divid 
ed  by  archways.  On  one  floor  was  the  great  saloon 
used  for  banquets,  with  an  alcove  for  musicians  who 
were  not  there,  although  the  musical  instruments  hung 
ready  upon  the  walls;  queer  little  round  guitars 
covered  with  serpent-skin  and  a  little  drum  mounted 
on  a  tripod  to  beat  time.  Outside  the  window  hung 
a  little  balcony  filled  with  flowers  in  pots  and  tubs, 
and  from  it  we  enjoyed  a  wide  and  wonderful  view 
of  China  Town,  with  the  brighter  gas-lighted  streets 
of  the  city  beyond. 

We  seated  ourselves  at  several  small  tables,  and 
were  first  served  with  tea  prepared  in  little  Chinese 


THE    BANQUET  AND    THE    VIANDS.  171 

cups  with  covers  to  them,  and  drank  without  sugar 
or  cream,  and  not  acceptable  to  a  palate  educated 
to  their  use ;  although  we  meekly  bow  to  the  decision 
of  those  tea-epicures  of  our  acquaintance  who  insist 
that  tea  is  not  tea  unless  taken~aw  naturel,  and  that 
Chinese  tea  prepared  by  Chinese  hands,  and  drank 
from  a  cup  with  a  cover  to  it  is  the  only  true  reali 
zation  of  this  aesthetic  beverage.  The  tea  removed, 
an  army  of  little  blue  Canton  china  plates  was  pre 
sented,  containing  squares  of  white  cake,  with  a  white 
glazing  covered  with  red  characters,  olives,  salted 
almonds,  candied  water  -  melon,  little  white  cheeses, 
several  sorts  of  dark  and  dubious-looking  sweetmeats, 
and  a  good  many  unnamed  and  uninviting  compounds 
of  a  gelatinous  and  saccharine  nature.  We  tasted  the 
cake,  the  sweetmeats  and  some  of  the  anonymous 
dishes,  and  found  everything  strange  and  disagreeable, 
having  a  prevailing  taste  of  lard,  and  that  not  of  the 
freshest.  The  banquet  finished  by  a  dessert  of  fruit, 
and  an  orange  was  as  refreshing  as  if  it  had  not  been 
called  channg,  and  the  grapes  bore  up  well  under 
the  ignominy  of  being  styled  po-tie-cliee,  and  the  ba 
nanas  were  none  the  worse  for  the  name  heong  gav 
cheiv. 

We  finished  with  a  course  of  Chinese  liquor  corre 
sponding  with  our  whisky,  and  which  we  tasted  in  tiny 
glasses  and  found  fiery  to  the  taste,  and  now  as  it  was 
well  on  toward  morning  and  about  half  the  party  de 
clared  themselves  thoroughly  worn  out,  the  dauntless 
spirits  who  still  clamored  for  more  sight-seeing  were 
compelled  to  give  in,  and  we  presently  stepped  from 


172  CHINESE    SERVANTS. 

Jackson  Street  into  Kearney,  from  the  Celestial  and 
flowery  kingdom  back  to  our  American  Republic,  from 
an  Oriental  dream  into  a  very  wide-awake  reality. 

We  did  not  organize  another  as  formal  visit  as  this 
to  China  Town,  but  made  various  little  raids  and 
exploring  trips  to  the  less  objectionable  portions' 
and  heard  a  great  deal  of  most  conflicting  testimony 
about  the  Chinese  question  from  our  acquaintances 
in  San  Francisco.  Nearly  all  housewives  agree  that 
Chinese  servants  are  the  best  in  the  county — neat, 
quiet,  apt  at  learning  and  reliable  in  emergencies; 
per  contra,  they  are,  above  all  flesh,  deceitful,  devoid 
of  personal  attachment,  and  suspected  of  cultivating 
the  most  odious  vices  beneath  a  demure  and  discreet 
exterior.  Of  course,  there  are  good  and  bad  among 
Chinese  servants  as  among  all  other  classes  of  men> 
and  the  virtues  of  the  good  are  patent  upon  the  sur 
face  ;  unfortunately  no  man  has  penetrated  sufficiently 
beneath  his  smiling  and  subtle  exterior  to  tell  with 
certainty  what  underlies  it,  and  I  think  that,  after  all, 
my  own  greatest  personal  objection  to  the  Chinaman 
is  the  arriere  pensee  of  which  we  were  always  uneasily 
conscious  when  in  his  society;  so  that  on  the  whole 
one  would  not  wish  to  set  up  a  house  in  a  lonely 
neighborhood  with  a  numerous  retinue  of  Johns.  One 
might  take  to  reading  the  old  letters  from  India  which 
told  at  first  of  the  skill  and  faithfulness  of  Ali,  and 
Nana,  and  then  of  the  horrors  of  the  Sepoy  rebellion, 
and  then  came  no  more !  In  all  branches  of  industry 
the  Chinese  workman  ranks  above  the  average.  Hav 
ing  once  been  thoroughly  shown  the  details  of  any 


CHINESE    LABOR    EXCELLENT  AND    RELIABLE.       173 

handicraft,  he  carries  them  out  with  a  patient  fidelity 
and  exactness  seldom  possible  to  the  more  nervous 
and  speculative  temperament  of  the  European  or  Ameri 
can:  and  although  he  copies  the  errors  as  faithfully  as 
the  perfections,  he  may  be  trusted  to  "do  as  he  is  bid," 
unwatched  and  unwearying  as  long  as  he  holds  to  that 
form  of  employment.  The  cry  of  "  cheap  labor/' 
so  furiously  raised  against  the  Chinese,  principally  by 
the  classes  to  whom  any  labor  is  abhorrent,  is  as 
unfounded  as  it  is  malicious.  A  good  man -cook  in 
a  family  gets  $35.00  per  month,  and  a  waiter  $25.00 ; 
nor  are  the  wages  of  inferior  servants,  mechanics, 
laundry-men,  or  laborers  below  the  average  of  white 
labor  in  the  Eastern  part  of  the  country.  What  makes 
Chinese  labor  cheap  is  its  excellence  and  reliability, 
the  absence  of  a  disposition  "  to  strike,"  and  a  quiet 
and  gentle  acceptance  of  the  disagreeabilities  of  labor 
and  poverty  which  many  of  our  native  workmen  seem 
disposed  to  treat  as  unmerited  hardship  and  injustice 
on  the  part  of  their  employers.  Meek,  gentle  and 
unobtrusive,  John  is,  withal,  persistent ;  whatever  busi 
ness  he  edges  and  glides  into,  he  generally  ends  by 
mastering  and  excelling  in,  and  so  simple  are  his 
wants,  and  so  close  his  economy,  that  a  little  capi 
tal  is  soon  amassed  from  the  wages  an  Irishman 
would  eat  and  drink  in  the  jolliest  possible  manner, 
and  at  the  end  of  his  career  we  find  John  modestly 
drawing  his  little  account  from  the  savings'  bank  and 
setting  up  for  himseli  or  buying  a  small  store  in  some 
establisned  business. 

Whether  we  like  him  or  not,  the  Chinaman  in  Cali- 


174  JOHN   IS  A   FIXED    PACT   IN    CALIFORNIA.' 

forma  has  become  a  fixed  fact,  and  one  not  to  be  done 
away  with  except  by  giving  the  lie  to  our  own  Insti 
tutions,  especially  to  that  clause  of  the  Constitution 
which  declares  all  men  to  have  a  right  to  life  and 
liberty  "  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,"  and  to  those 
laws  which  welcome  the  emigrants  of  the  world  to  our 
shores  and  offer  them  a  share  of  that  freedom  and 
manly  self-government  we  are  so  justly  proud  of.  Ac 
cepting  the  fixed  fact,  therefore,  and  giving  up  any  great 
hope  of  modifying  it,  since  very  few  Chinamen  have 
ever  been  Christianized,  and  only  the  weaker  brethren 
Lave  consented  to  exchange  the  social  customs  of  their 
forefathers  for  ours,  all  that  remains  is,  for  us  to  make 
the  best  o'f  it  as  it  is,  and  treating  John  liberally 
as  a  man  and  a  brother,  cultivate  such  of  his  qualities 
as  we  esteem,  deal  with  what  we  do  not  like,  justly, 
impartially,  and  honorably,  and  wait  for  Time,  the 
great  assimilator,  to  soften  the  differences,  subdue  the 
Heathen's  vices,  and  elevate  the  Christian's  charity 
until  it  becomes  the  law  of  the  individual  and  of  the 
State. 


THE  INEVITABLE  WINDMILL.    Page  129. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

WOODWARD'S  GARDENS  AND  SEAL  ROCKS. 

TT  TE  passed  a  delightful  morning  at  Woodward's 
V  V  Gardens,  a  spot  so  well  known  to  every  one  who 
has  visited  San  Francisco,  talked  with  any  one  who 
has  been,  or  read  the  book  anyone  having  been  is  sure 
to  write,  that  we  will  not  minutely  describe  it  here ; 
merely  saying  that  Mr.  "Woodward  is  one  of  those 
happy  individuals  who  have  had  the  opportunity  given 
them  of  leaving  the  world  undeniably  more  beautiful 
than  they  found  it.  The  place  was  originally  his  own 
private  grounds;  the  building  now  serving  as  the 
museum,  his  own  private  house ;  and  having  trans 
formed  the  grounds  into  a  terrestrial  Paradise,  and  the 
house  into  a  rare  collection  of  every  sort  of  curiosity, 
he  throws  the  whole  open  to  the  public,  who,  for  twenty- 
five  cents  each  soul,  may  spend  the  day  in  rambling 
among  shady  groves,  verdant  lawns,  flowery  bosquets, 
lakes,  streams  and  waterfalls,  conservatories,  ferneries, 
using  the  swings,  the  trapezes,  the  merry-go-rounds 
at  will,  or  listening  to  the  fine  music  and  witnessing 
the  theatrical  displays  often  given  in  the  great  arena 
surrounded  with  seats,  which  is  also  used  for  dancing, 
parlor-skating  and  acrobatic  performances.  Connected 
with  this  is  an  excellent  refreshment -room,  whose 


176  A   FINE    ZOOLOGICAL    COLLECTION. 

dainties    are   more    to   be   recommended   than  those 
described  in  the  last  chapter. 

Such  a  garden  as  this  is  only  possible  where  frost 
is  unknown,  and  the  Summer's  growth  is  never  nipped 
by  Winter's  snows.  Why  does  not  human  nature  carry 
out  the  rule  of  inanimate  nature,  and  why  are  the 
persons  who  have  never  known  a  sorrow,  or  a  want, 
or  a  cloud  upon  their  day,  by  no  means  the  sweetest, 
the  fairest  or  most  perfect? 

An  underground  passage  leads  from  the  gardens 
proper  to  the  Zoological  Gardens,  so  called,  and  here 
is  a  fine  collection  of  wild  animals  ;  the  ferocious  ones 
as  languid  and  disgusted  of  mien  as  wild  beasts  in  iron 
cages  always  are ;  the  beautiful  ones  more  beautiful 
than  we  often  see  them,  because  they  are  at  liberty, 
within  their  fenced  paddocks  ;  and  one  gets  a  better 
idea  of  an  ostrich  in  seeing  him  upon  a  sunny  hillside, 
even  with  a  fence  in  the  perspective,  than  in  a  cage 
six  feet  square  with  his  beautiful  plumes  as  broken 
and  worn  as  an  old  feather  duster  ;  and  the  deer  in  their 
park  are  as  free  and  graceful  as  in  their  native  wilds. 
The  most  amusing  feature  of  all  was  the  bear-pit ;  tall 
poles  were  erected  in  the  middle  with  little  platforms 
on  top  that  Bruin  might  pretend  to  himself  that  he 
was  climbing  a  tree  and  resting  in  the  branches.  We 
were  presented  to  an  infant  black  bear  aged  three 
months,  a  perfect  darling,  with  innocent  blue  eyes,  and 
the  sweetest  little  fat  palms  to  his  feet,  and  as  full 
of  fun  and  harmless  antics  as  a  kitten.  In  a  cool 
grotto  was  an  admirable  salt-water  aquarium  supplied 
constantly  from  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  fitted  up  with 


SOCIAL    COURTESIES.  177 

stalactites  depending  from  the  roof,  and  barnacled 
rocks,  masses  of  coral,  and  sand  at  the  bottom,  imitat 
ing  the  bed  of  the  sea.  A  similar  fresh-water  aquarium 
adjoins  this,  and  also  a  machine  for  hatching  fish- 
spawn  of  every  variety.  The  tanks  for  seals  and  kin- 
tiro  ,1  monsters  were  large  and  well  kept,  and  seem 
a  very  popular  feature  of  the  collection,  especially 
at  feeding  time,  when  the  barking  and  roaring  are 
really  terrific. 

Quite  tired  out  with  walking,  standing,  looking, 
laughing  and  admiring,  we  returned  to  the  hotel  and 
found  a  vase  of  roses  awaiting  us  with  the  card  of 
a  lady  resident  in  the  house  ;  the  roses  were  the  largest 
I  had  ever  seen,  even  in  Lima,  Peru — too  large,  indeed, 
for  beauty,  and  only  curious  as  mammoths.  In  the 

evening  we  *  returned  the  call,  and  found  Mrs.  S 

a  most  charming  and  individual  person.  She  rarely 
leaves  her  apartments,  being  extremely  stout,  yet  with 
the  smallest  feet  and  hands  imaginable,  but  she  has 
brought  the  world  to  herself ;  her  wonderful  conversa 
tional  ability,  sunshiny  nature,  and  rare  literary  at 
tainments  making  her  drawing  -  room  the  centre  of 
one  of  the  brightest  circles,  intellectually,  in  San  Fran 
cisco,  and  reminding  one  of  the  traditions  of  Madame 
Becamier  and  the  galaxy  of  wits  and  savants  thai 
gathered  around  her. 

Beside  these  living  ornaments,  Mrs.  S has  been 

able  to  make  a  collection  of  pictures,  books,  carvings 
objets  d'art  and  bric-a-brac  fit  to  drive  a  rival  collectc- 
mad.  Among  other  items  in  the  latter  direction,  one 
may  mention  three  hundred  tea-pots,  each  named  after 


178  HE    CLIFF   HOUSE  A   POPULAR    RESORT. 

a  friend,  and  the  tiny  ones  after  baby  friends.  A  Jap 
anese  puppy,  precisely  like  the  little  monsters  one 
is  familiar  with  in  pottery,  should,  as  he  was  alive, 
occupy  a  third  place  between  the  coterie  of  friends  and 
the  coterie  of  tea-pots  and  bric-a-brac,  although  he  was 
so  excessively  ugly  as  to  be  perhaps  more  charming 

tnan  either.     Mrs.  S ,  besides  being  au  fait  with 

every  book  of  the  day,  is  an  admirable  artist ;  and  her 
young  and  pretty  daughter  is  a  musician  of  no  mean 
merit,  and  studies  the  art  diligently  in  her  private 
school  and  music  rooms  attached  to  the  suite.  Mrs. 

S has  resided  in  California  for  twenty  years  or 

more,  her  childhood  having  been  passed  in  China ;  so 
that  she  is  one  of  the  best  possible  exponents  of  both 
the  Chinese  and  San  Francisco  questions,  which,  in 
these  latter  days,  have  become  so  curiously  mixed. 

The  next  morning  we  drove  out  to  the  Cliff  House, 
the  most  popular  resort  of  the  pleasure-seeker  in  this 
city.  We  started  in  the  fog  nearly  inevitable,  at  this 
season,  every  morning,  but  warranted  to  clear  by  nine 
o'clock.  This  especial  morning  the  warrant  failed,  but 
unlike  gloves  and  boots,  the  day  could  not  be  returned 
to  its  manufacturer,  or  exchanged  for  a  better  one, 
so  we  made  the  best  of  it  and  took  it  out  in  grumbling 
and  seal-skin  sacks.  The  drive  through  the  suburbs  is 
not  especially  attractive  until  one  enters  Golden  Gate 
Park,  the  principal  driving-ground  of  San  Francisco,  and 
destined,  like  many  other  things  in  this  wonderful  city, 
to  become  by-and-by  one  of  the  finest,  not  only  of  Amer 
ica  but  the  world.  Just  at  present,  however,  things 
are  in  a  rather  rudimentary  state,  tin  four  years  of  its 


GOLUEN    GATE    PARK.  179 

existence  having  done  a  large  work  upon  the  thousand 
acres  of  shifting  sand-hills  and  wild  ravines,  thinly 
clothed  with  cacti  and  evergreen — its  original  status — 
but  leaving  much  still  to  be  accomplished.  The  first 
object  to  achieve  was  to  form  a  soil,  or  rather  to  hold 
the  restless  sands  in  one  spot  until  a  soil  could  be  laid 
upon  them,  and  this  has  been  done  by  the  extensive 
planting  of  lupins,  whose  spreading  roots  interlacing 
between  the  surface  make  it  permanent,  while  the 
coarse  leaves  and  flaunting  flowers,  not  very  lovely 
in  themselves,  form  a  shelter  and  foundation  for  finer 
growth.  Trees  are  profusely  planted  already,  and 
the  hard  red  roads  are  perfect  of  their  kind ;  the  com 
missioners  are  active,  the  citizens  liberal,  the  climate 
propitious ;  so  that  the  baby  of  to-day,  on  her  bridal 
tour  to  San  Francisco,  may  find  the  melancholy  waste 
of  sand-dunes,  which  Padre  Junipero  reported  as  cut 
ting  off  the  site  of  the  Mission  Dolores  from  the  ocean, 
transformed  into  a  park  which  shall  be  the  delight 
of  the  Continent.  Presently,  after  a  three  miles'  drive, 
we  emerge  from  the  great  gray  drifts  which  end  the 
grounds  upon  the  western  side,  and  see  the  long  level 
line  of  the  Pacific  stretching  to  the  horizon,  its  break 
ers  rolling  heavily  in  upon  the  flat  beach  and  their 
low  roar  filling  the  air. 

The  Cliff  House  perches  on  a  steep,  rocky  eminence, 
sweeping  up  abruptly  from  the  beach,  so  that  its  piazza 
literally  overhangs  the  surf.  A  few  hundred  yards 
from  the  shore  rise  the  picturesque  mass  of  broken 
crag  known  as  the  Seal  Eocks,  and  the  long  swell  of  the 
Pacific  meeting  this  obstacle,  breaks  from  its  majestic 


180  THE   DISCORDANT   SEA-LIONS. 

placidity  into  an  angry  rush  and  roar  of  surf,  sweeping 
over  and  among  the  rocks  and  churning  itself  into 
a  foamy  fury  that  fills  all  the  space  between  them 
and  the  shore. 

The  ocean  was  of  a  dull  green  that  day,  the  sky 
gray,  the  wind  blowing  a  gale  and  wildly  scattering  the 
feathers  of  the  sea  fowl  who  fled  before  it ;  far  to  the 
left  stretched  the  sandy  beach  with  the  soft  fog  drifting 
down  upon  it,  while  to  the  right  the  steep  and  jagged 
cliffs  cut  sharply  against  the  sky ;  from  their  summit 
we  could  have  looked  across  the  Golden  Gate  and 
the  lovely  bay  to  Part  Point,  with  its  lighthouse,  but 
we  did  not  do  it,  sitting  instead  upon  the  piazza  to 
watch  the  sea-lions  or  seals  which  swarm  upon  the 
rocks  bearing  their  name,  playing,  eating,  fighting, 
barking,  and  filling  the  air  with  shrill  cries  and 
deep  roars  which  mingle  in  discordant  music  with 
the  dash  and  tumult  of  the  surf.  Every  age,  size  and 
description  of  seal  is  here  represented,  from  the  soft 
baby  of  a  few  weeks  old,  to  the  barnacled  and  clumsy 
patriarch,  turning  the  scale  at  three  thousand  pounds, 
and  rolling  hither  and  thither  in  majestic  disregard 
of  the  small  fry,  who  scuttle  out  of  his  path  to  avoid 
annihilation. 

The  biggest,  ugliest  and  most  belligerent  of  the  seals 
is  called  General  Butler,  and  he  evidently  is  not  con 
sidered  an  agreeable  or  safe  neighbor,  for  every  one 
else  gave  place  to  him  with  a  haste  more  of  fear  than 
of  reverence. 

After  breakfast — a  most  elaborate,  prolonged,  and 
admirably  cooked  and  served  meal  —  several  of  us 


THE    CEMETERIES    AT   LONE   MOUNTAIN.  181 

descended  the  cliffs  by  a  winding  wooden  staircase  of 
one  hundred  and  forty  steps  to  a  little  sheltered  bay 
and  lovely  sandy  beach,  with  a  huge  rock  towering  up 
just  on  the  edge  of  the  surf  and  dividing  it  into  two 
shining  channels.  We  stood  upon  the  sands  and  gazed 
far  out  upon  the  lovely  opai- green  expanse  of  water 
which  in  its  great  heaving  swells  seemed  lifted  above 
our  heads  and  gathering  all  its  forces  to  roll  over  and 
submerge  us  while  the  foam  and  din  of  the  surf  close 
at  hand  was  the  onset  of  the  battle.  On  each  side 
of  the  little  bay  the  gray  rocks  towered  up,  all  water- 
wasted  and  honeycombed,  their  surfaces  fretted  like 
lace-work  and  crusted  over  with  a  kind  of  coral  deposit 
and  clusters  of  muscle  and  snail  shells.  One  of  the 
Seal  Rocks  has  an  arch  cut  completely  through  it, 
presenting  a  charming  effect. 

On  the  drive  home  we  passed  Lone  Mountain,  a 
solitary  peak  upon  whose  summit  stands  a  gigantic 
cross  —  mute  memorial  of  the  Spanish  Fathers  who 
worshiped  and  buried  their  dead  in  its  shadow.  The 
hills  around  its  base  are  covered  with  gleaming  stones, 
and  the  Romanists,  the  Protestants  and  the  Chinese 
have  their  cemeteries  here. 

The  sun  came  out  during  the  return  drive,  and 
by  the  time  we  reached  home,  about  two  o'clock,  it  was 
overpo  \veringly  hot  and  we  were  glad  to  shelter  in  the 
house. 


CHAPTEE  XX. 

THE  TIES   OF   CAUFOBNIAN  BUSINESS  PARTNERSHIPS. 

WE  received  a  pleasant  call  from  Mr.  Bryant,  the 
Mayor  of  San  Francisco,  a  most  genial  gentle 
man,  with  the  frankest  and  most  honest  of  blue  eyes, 
and  a  mouth  and  teeth  just  formed  for  gracious  and 
contagious  mirth.  His  manner  especially  pleased  us, 
as  lacking  that  reserve  and  arriere  pensee  one  learns 
to  expect  in  all  men  connected  with  political  life.  He 
is  hospitable  as  a  prince,  and  deservedly  popular  with 
all  classes  of  his  constituents,  while  his  amiable  wife 
is  an  able  and  active  coadjutor  in  the  social  duties  of 
his  position. 

Mr.  Bryant  is  a  New  Hampshire  man  by  birth,  and 
came  here  twenty-seven  years  ago  with  a  schoolmate, 
his  partner.  There  is  something  very  touching  in  this 
peculiar  relationship  which  formed  so  marked  a  fea 
ture  of  early  Californian  life,  and  lasts  down  to  to-day. 
A  man's  "  partner  "  here  is  not  simply  his  business 
ally  and  perhaps  personal  enemy,  but,  following  out 
the  picturesque  and  chivalrous  scheme  of  life  that  was 
the  first  outgrowth  of  Californian  society,  these  part 
nerships  were  a  reproduction  of  the  sworn  brother 
hoods  among  the  Knights  of  the  heroic  age,  or  of  the 
similar  tie  so  common  with  German  students  of  to-day ; 
the  partner  is  more  than  friend,  more  than  a  brother, 
he  is  an  alter  ego,  whose  interests,  wishes,  pleasures 


ARCHITECTURE    OF   SAN   FRANCISCO.  183 

and  profit  are  as  valuable  to  his  other  half  as  his  own ; 
his  loves,  his  quarrels,  his  ill  or  good  luck  are  shared 
with  eager  partisanship,  and  whatever  comes  between, 
the  tie  of  loyal  good  faith  is  very  seldom  broken. 
Bead  Bret  Harte's  "  Tennessee's  Pardner  "  and  you  will 
see  what  it  all  means  better  than  I  can  tell.  Mr. 
Bryant  and  his  friend  live  side  by  side  to-day  ;  they 
toiled  and  fought  side  by  side  in  the  wild  old  days, 
and  the  tie  remains  strong  and  bright  as  ever. 

The  mayor  had  brought  his  horses,  and  presently 
took  us  out  to  see  something  more  of  the  city  than  we 
had  yet  beheld.  We  went  first  to  the  new  City  Hall, 
which  will  not  be  finished  for  about  three  years  more. 
It  is  of  brick,  and  cement,  plastered  outside — San  Fran 
cisco  architecture  eschews  stone,  finding  brick  and 
cement  with  iron  beams  and  cross-ties  and  iron  pillars 
running  from  floor  to  roof  more  nearly  fire  and  earth 
quake  proof.  They  claim  that  this  City  Hall  will 
outlast  any  public  building  in  the  country,  and  will 
be  the  strongest  and  most  perfect  of  any  structure  of 
the  kind  ever  erected.  The  Hall  of  Records  is  quite 
separate  from  the  main  building,  circular  in  shape 
and  finished  with  a  beautiful  dome ;  two  galleries 
run  around  the  interior,  and  the  floor  is  of  Georgia 
pine  and  black  walnut,  with  a  very  handsome  marble 
centre-piece. 

We  went  on  the  workmen's  elevator  to  the  roof  of 
the  main  building  and  saw  tantalizing  glimpses  of  a 
magnificent  view  partially  hidden  by  the  Summer  fog, 
which,  as  usual,  rested  soft  and  gray  and  fleecy  upon 
the  Bay  and  crept  up  over  the  foothills — Goat  Island 


184  ORNATE    RESIDENCES    ON    THE    CLIFFS. 

heaved  its  round  back  up  through  it  in  one  spot,  and 
in  another  we  caught  a  lovely  vista  of  bright  blue 
water,  and  the  city  with  its  rush  and  roar  lay  spread 
out  at  our  feet.  The  wind  blew  a  gale,  but  it  was 
so  soft  and  fresh  and  warm  a  wind  that  one  forgave 
its  rude  toying  for  the  sake  of  the  relief  it  brought 
from  the  sultry  heat  of  the  day. 

From  the  City  Hall  we  drove  up  the  steep  hill- 
streets  to  look  at  some  of  the  handsome  residences  on 
the  cliffs.  Many  of  them  are  perfect  palaces,  generally 
built  of  wood,  and  ornate  to  excess.  Ralston' s  city 
house  is  a  huge  caravanseri  absolutely  without  beauty 
or  ornament,  the  grounds  a  mere  waste  of  weeds  and 
rubbish.  Most  of  these  places,  indeed,  fall  short  in 
the  matter  of  grounds,  everything  looking  crude  and 
unfinished  to  Eastern  eyes. 

Two  fine  houses  are  in  process  of  building  by  Mr. 
Hopkins  and  Mr.  Crocker.  On  the  estate  of  the  latter 
gentleman  stood  a  small  cottage  which  he  wished 
to  purchase  and  take  down,  but  the  owner  refused  to 
sell  under  some  fabulous  price,  and  Mr.  Crocker,  de 
clining  to  be  imposed  upon  to  this  extent,  has  instead 
built  a  high  frame  wall  around  three  sides  of  the 
cottage,  completely  shutting  it  out  from  his  view  and 
also  from  viewing.  The  proprietor  threatens  to  erect  a 
Chinese  laundry  on  the  roof  of  his  house,  by  way  of 
revenge ! 

We  called  upon  Mrs.  Bryant,  and  after  lunch  took 
a  Market  Street  car  for  the  Mission  Dolores — the  nest- 
egg,  so  to  speak,  of  San  Francisco.  It  was  built  in  1776 
by  the  Jesuits,  but  the  original  adobe  building  has 


THE    MISSION    DOLORES.  185 

been  restored  almost  to  annihilation;  however,  the 
church  front  and  most  of  the  interior  remain  as  they 
were.  Over  the  low-arched  doorway  with  its  four  col 
umns  are  three  little  arches  and  two  large  bells;  on 
the  right  are  the  priests'  apartments  and  rooms  for  the 
Mission  schools ;  on  the  left,  one  passes  through  a  little 
wooden  gateway  into  the  graveyard,  a  wild  and  tangled 
place  overgrown  with  ivy  and  myrtle,  the  blue  flowers  oi 
the  latter  as  large  as  morning  glories  ;  the  graves,  like 
those  at  Lone  Mountain,  each  sheltered  in  its  own  little 
picket  fence  with  a  high  board  at  the  end  like  the  head 
board  of  a  bedstead.  We  left  the  sunshine  outside  and 
entered  the  church,  where  a  century's  gloom  and  damp 
seemed  centralized.  Chi3  aisle  divided  the  rows  of 
uncushioned  benches,  and  tha  floor  was  bare  and  worn 
by  the  feet  of  those  who  now  filled  the  neglected  grave 
yard  outside.  A  single  arch  spanned  the  church,  and 
upon  it  was  inscribed  :  "  How  dreadful  is  this  place  ; 
it  is  none  other  than  the  House  of  the  Lord  and  the 
Gate  of  Heaven."  The  main  altar  was  rather  bare  and 
rather  tawdry,  and  at  each  side  of  the  chancel  was  a 
shrine  containing  statues  of  saints  not  badly  executed. 
The  altars  are  old  and  decaying,  the  gilding  tarnished 
and  the  paint  dingy;  there  were  many  little  bou 
quets  upon  them  all,  and  the  smell  of  the  roses  was 
heavy  and  sweet  as  incense. 

In  the  evening,  by  way  of  severe  contrast,  we  went 
to  Baldwin's  Theatre,  attached  to  the  hotel  of  the  same 
name  and  just  finished.  It  is  really  the  prettiest  to  be 
seen  in  any  part  of  the  world— a  "  perfect  little  gem, 
fitted  up  like  a  bonbonniere  in  crimson  satin  and  gold. 


186  CLAY   HILL    ELEVATED    RAILWAY. 

The  six  proscenium  boxes  on  either  side,  and  the  row 
of  French  boxes  at  the  back  are  marvelously  pretty. 
Nothing  could  be  more  rich  and  exquisite  in  refinement 
of  taste.  The  symmetry  of  the  house  is  unmarred 
by  rows  of  pillars,  the  galleries  being  suspended  from 
the  roof. 

Next  morning  we  went  up  Clay  Hill,  on  the  Elevat 
ed  Railway,  the  cars  being  dragged  up  the  steep  ascent 
by  wire  cables  beneath  the  wooden  track.     There  is  a  lit 
tle  engine  in  the  middle  and  seats  around  the  four  sides 
where  you  sit  and  dangle  your  feet   into   space ;   the 
grade  is  376  feet,  and  one  wonders  how  the  inhabitants 
ever  went  up  and  down  before   the  railway  was  laid. 
"We  came   home  through  China  Town,  never  missing 
an  opportunity  of  visiting  it,  and  saw  a  woman  sitting 
in  a  doorway  dressed  in  white  trowsers  and  a  pea-green 
sacque,  and  a  man   leading  along  a  little  mite  of  a  girl 
gotten  up  in  a  pink  silk  sacque  and  trowsers,  silver 
bracelets  on  her  wrists  and  ankles,  and  her  hair  dress 
ed  in  two  flat  round  whirls  at  the  back,  stuck  full  of 
artificial  flowers.     We  ventured  into  a  tenement-house, 
its  corridors  and  stairs  filthy  and  odorous,  but  its  many 
rooms   and   more   inmates   neat    and   well  kept,   and 
the  former  almost  invariably  decorated  with  flowers 
and  globes  of  gold-fish.     These  people  enjoy  incon 
venience  and  prefer  to  exist  five  or  six  together  in  one 
little  room,  men,  women  and  children,  cooking,  eating, 
sleeping,  and  living  generally  in  a  space  rather  scanty 
for  one  Englishman  or  American.    Yet  all  seem  happy 
and  content,  and  all  smile  upon  us  persistently  and 
blandly. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

SAN  RAFAEL  AND  MR.    COLEMAN's  GROUNDS. 

ONE  lovely  Sunday  morning,  following  the  fashion 
of  the  Romans  among  whom  we  found  ourselves, 
we  started  at  eight  o'clock  to  pass  the  day  at  San 
Rafael  with  Mr.  Coleman.  Going  on  one  of  the  com 
fortable  boats  of  the  Oaklands  and  Alameda  Ferry 
Company  we  found  ourselves  in  the  midst  of  a  festive 
throng  of  pleasure-seekers  who,  accompanied  by  a  brass 
band,  were  bound  for  the  picnic  grounds  of  San  Ra 
fael,  one  of  the  most  popular  resorts  for  that  class  of 
San  Franciscans  who  look  upon  Sunday  as  a  day  of 
wholesome  recreation  and  rest. 

The  sail,  northerly  up  the  Bay,  is  one  of  the  most 
charming  imaginable,  crossing  the  channel  of  the  Gold 
en  Gate  and  passing  close  by  Alcatraz  with  its  green 
breast- works  and  red  roofed  forts,  then  winding  between 
the  coast  range  on  the  east,  and  on  the  West  the 
Mission  Hills,  Saucelito  and  Raccoon  Straits,  while 
northward  lies  the  great  dark  peak  of  Tamalpais, 
seamed  from  top  to  base  by  a  white  sand  slide  where 
a  "cloud-burst  struck"  some  years  ago.  The  soft, 
bright  haze  only  made  the  landscape  lovelier  in  a 
rosv-Durple  light,  and  the  water  was  green  as  emerald 
and  dappled  with  flashing  white  caps ;  presently  the 
Bun  came  out,  the  sky  grew  blue  and  deep,  and  ever^- 


188  SAN   RAFAEL   AND    ITS    ENVIRONS. 

tiling  was  delicious  except  the  long,  slow,  swell  of  the 
sea,  which  rocked  the  little  boat  like  a  cradle. 

We  disembarked  at  Point  San  Quentin  and  found 
the  narrow  gauge  train  of  cars  for  San  Eafael  awaiting 
us.  Besides  the  usual  carriages  we  noticed  a  series  of 
picnic  cars  consisting  merely  of  platforms  quite  close 
to  the  ground  and  furnished  with  bare  benches.  A 
passage  of  twenty  minutes  or  so  along  the  shores  of  the 
Bay  brought  us  to  to  the  pretty  village  of  San  Eafael, 
nestling  at  the  foot  of  a  great  conical  hill,  half  covered 
with  wood.  Mr.  Coleman's  carriage  awaited  us,  and 
the  four  admirable  horses  whirled  us  away,  Elijah-like, 
in  a  cloud  of  dust  to  the  hills  above  the  town.  Noth 
ing  can  be  lovelier  than  the  position  of  San  Eafael,  the 
beautiful  Bay  at  its  feet  and  great  Tamalpais  shelter 
ing  it  from  the  cold  winds  that  sweep  in  through  the 
Golden  Gate.  The  valley  runs  back  from  the  coast 
between  swelling  ranks  of  hills  covered  with  verdure, 
for  in  the  warm,  still  air  and  sweet  sunshine,  every  form 
of  vegetation  revels  and  luxuriates.  We  drove  along 
the  old  post -road  running  twenty  miles  inland  to 
Petaluma,  passed  the  old  Mission  House  now  convert 
ed  into  the  Court  House  of  Marion  County,  and  the 
Mission  gardens  and  orchards  still  luxuriant  with 
flowers  and  fruits  planted  by  the  dead  and  gone  old 
monks,  and  so,  through  hilly  by-roads  and  glimpses  of 
lovely  scenery  to  Mr.  Coleman's  great  nursery  gardens, 
where  we  left  the  carriage  and  walked  about  to  pick 
flowers,  taste  of  fruits  and  enjoy  ourselves  a  la  Adam 
and  Eve  in  Paradise  sans  the  serpent.  In  the  garden, 
roses  were  running  wild  in  all  directions,  the  blossoms 


FLORICTTLTTTRAL    GEMS.  189 

as  large  as  great  peonies — deep  yellow,  pale  buff,  the 
darkest  crimson,  pure  white  and  lovely  pink;  honey 
suckles,  geraniums,  verbenas,  pansies,  California  ever 
lastings,  every  blossom  fit  for  a  flower-show,  and  crowd 
ing  each  other  in  a  mad  luxuriance -of  bloom  which 
made  it  a  charity  to  pluck  as  many  as  possible  ;  be 
sides  these,  were  wildernesses  of  trees  all  in  flower 
or  fruit,  acacias,  varieties  of  eucalyptus,  guavas,  blue 
and  red  gum  trees,  rhododendrons,  and  tulip  trees, 
locusts  and  magnolias.  A  little  wearied  at  last,  we, 
accompanied  by  Mr.  Coleman,  returned  to  the  carriage, 
and  continued  our  drive  through  roads  scarcely  more 
than  projected  as  yet,  some  of  them  no  more  than  mere 
trails  among  the  grass  and  wild  flowers.  Mr.  Coleman 
owns  the  whole  of  the  San  Eafael  valley,  about  forty- 
five  thousand  acres  of  wild  land,  and  he  is  diligently 
employed  in  planting  it  with  trees  from  his  nurseries 
and  laying  out  roads  commanding  the  loveliest  views. 
He  expects  by-and-by  to  sell  portions  of  the  grounds 
as  building  lots,  and  the  whole  region  will  become  one 
continuous  garden.  Always,  as  we  wound  in  and  out 
among  the  hills  and  paused  for  a  fresh  aspect  of  the 
charming  view  we  found  Tamalpais  in  the  middle  dis 
tance,  as  distinctive  a  feature  as  Vesuvius  of  all  Neapol 
itan  scenery,  and  Mr.  Coleman  averred  that,  owing  to 
its  protecting  influence,  the  climate  of  San  Eafael  is 
quite  different  from  that  of  the  coast  towns — softer, 
more  equable,  and  having  a  larger  rain  and  dew-fall. 
Nature  is  so  spontaneous  and  lavish  here  that  she 
leaves  but  little  for  man  to  do ;  on  all  his  vast  estate 
Mr.  Coleman  employs  but  eleven  men  as  nurserymen 


lyU  CHINESE    SHRIMP    FISHERMEN. 

or  gardeners,  and  the  trees  once  planted  are  self-sus 
taining,  never  dreaming  of  withering  or  dying.  After 
several  hours'  drive  we  stopped  at  a  lovely  spot  and 
partook  of  a  picnic  lunch  under  a  great  laurel  tree,  and 
then,  laden  with  flowers  and  memories,  said  good-by  and 
took  the  homeward  route,  pausing  to  visit  the  little 
village  of  San  Kafael,  a  sleepy,  peaceful  spot,  with  nu 
merous  pretty  white  cottages  buried  in  flowers  and 
shaded  by  palm  trees,  and  in  one  garden  a  century 
plant,  its  blossom  spike  twenty  feet  high  and  just 
ready  to  burst  into  bloom,  after  which  the  plant  dies. 
Near  San  Quentin  we  passed  a  settlement  of  shrimp 
fishermen,  a  knot  of  little  low  huts,  the  red  papers 
above  their  doors  betraying  the  presence  of  the  heath 
en  Chinee.  The  black  nets  were  drying  upon  the  grass, 
and  the  fishermen,  blue  bloused,  pig-tailed  and  bare 
legged  lounged  about  staring  at  us  and  commenting 
in  the  usually  outwardly  bland  and  covertly  sneer 
ing  manner.  The  shrimps,  when  caught,  are  passed 
through  a  machine  which  takes  off  their  shells,  which 
are  ground  up  for  compost,  while  the  meat  is  salted 
and  packed  for  transportation  to  China. 

The  sail  down  the  Bay  was  as  lovely  as  that  of  the 
morning  until,  in  the  purple  light  of  early  evening,  we 
passed  the  Golden  Gate  and  saw  San  Francisco,  sleeping 
upon  her  seven  hills ;  Lone  Mountain,  with  its  great 
cross  towering  to  the  sky  ;  Telegraph  Hill,  overhanging 
the  bay,  and  the  sunset  glow  making  one  great  opal 
of  the  quiet  sea.  A  little  later  we  reached  the  Palace 
Hotel,  made  our  rooms  beautiful  with  the  wealth  of 
flowers  Mr.  Coleman  had  lavished  upon  us,  dressed  for 


EX-GOVERNOR    STANFORD'S    PALATIAL    HOME.       191 

dinner  and  in  the  evening  received  all  the  world  just 
as  one  might  do  in  Paris  or  New  York,  or  anywhere 
else ;  for  the  world  of  people  does  not  present  half 
the  charming  varieties  in  different  latitudes  that  the 
world  of  roses  and  eucalypti  does. 

The  next  day  we  dined  at  Ex-Governor  Stanford's, 
who  has  the  most  magnificent  house  on  this  Conti 
nent  ;  it  covers  an  entire  block  and  its  appointments 
are  simply  palatial.  One  drawing-room  is  furnished 
in  Pompeian  style  from  designs  which  were  the  joint 
work  of  its  tasteful  mistress  and  her  friend  Miss 
Hosmer,  the  sculptress  of  whom  America  is  so  proud. 
The  dining-room  is  as  superb  as  it  is  spacious,  and 
nothing  that  taste  could  suggest  or  wealth  provide  is 
here  wanting,  while  the  sleeping  and  dressing  rooms 
are  as  luxurious  as  they  are  dainty  and  magnificent, 
and  the  picture  gallery  is  a  worthy  home  for  its  choice 
paintings  and  statuary,  where  all  of  our  native  as 
well  as  foreign  artists  of  distinction  are  worthily  and 
characteristically  represented. 

The  dinner  was  superb,  the  thirty  guests  well-selected 
and  harmonized,  the  hostess  a  tall,  stately  woman,  with 
regal  manners  fitly  borne  out  by  her  costume  of  crimson 
velvet  softened  with  rare  old  lace  and  embellished  by 
a  magnificent  parure  of  diamonds  and  glowing  opals. 
Her  unmarried  sister,  who  aided  her  in  doing  the  honors, 
is  a  charming  lady,  both  genial  and  courtly  of  manner ; 
but  the  pet  of  the  house  is  a  splendid  boy  some  ten 
years  of  age,  the  only  child  of  the  parents,  who  waited 
nineteen  years  for  his  arrival.  The  little  fellow  was 
presented  after  dinner  and  charmed  us  by  his  pretty 


192  ME.  BALDWIN'S    MODEL    HOTEL. 

and  very  graceful  manners.  He  lias  great  artistic  as 
well  as  other  talents,  and  all  are  carefully  fostered 
under  the  charge  of  his  adoring  mother,  who,  on  a  sub 
sequent  occasion,  took  us  to  see  his  apartments.  They 
consist  of  study,  music  and  play  rooms,  bath-room, 
dressing-room,  and  bed -room,  all  fit  for  a  prince,  or 
better,  for  the  splendid  American  boy,  whose  manhood 
should  be  the  perfection  of  our  race,  so  nurtured  and 
protected. 

Next  morning,  after  breakfast,  we  were  invited  by 
Mr.  Baldwin,  whose  unique  theatre  we  had  visited, 
to  go  over  the  hotel  connected  with  it  and  likewise 
bearing  his  name.  It  is  not  quite  complete  as  yet  as 
to  furniture,  but  has  been  opened  for  visitors  for  a 
couple  of  months  and  is  a  most  admirable  house.  "We 
viewed  the  offices  and  were  shown  the  improvements, 
such  as  the  revolving  post  office  with  boxes  arranged 
in  a  cylinder ;  the  chronometer  which  regulates  the 
sixty  clocks  of  the  hotel,  timing  them  all  to  a  second ; 
an  apparatus  for  gauging  the  heat  of  each  apartment  or 
suite  ;  another  for  reporting  the  movements  of  the  bell- 
bovs  ;  passenger  elevators,  and  one  for  sending  up  par 
cels  to  each  floor ;  each  department  provided  with  an 
office  and  set  of  boys  independent  of  the  rest.  Each 
department  has  also  its  individual  fire  apparatus,  and 
a  well  runs  the  height  of  the  building,  having  a  small 
window  at  each  floor,  and  behind  it  a  coil  of  hose  con 
necting  with  the  tank,  so  that  at  the  most  sudden  alarm 
of  fire  any  one  can  rush  and  turn  on  a  stream  of  wat^r. 
On  the  lower  floor  is  a  waiting  >om,  a  reading-room,  a 
barber's  shop  and  a  fine  billiard -room  for  gentlemen, 


ITS    INTERIOR    APPOINTMENTS. 


193 


and  at  the  opposite  extreme  of  the  house,  in  the  roof, 
a  reading  and  billiard  room  for  ladies.  The  parlors 
were  unfurnished,  but  we  could  admire  their  graceful 
proportions  and  elaborate  frescoing.  The  suites  of 
private  apartments  were  charming,  finished  in  black 
walnut  and  furnished,  many  of  them,  ia  crimson  velvet 
and  gray  satin,  with  fine  large,  light  bath-rooms,  rich  in 
hooks  and  shelves,  unlimited  closet  room  and  all  the 
accessories  of  each  suite  daintily  matched  and  harmon 
ized.  The  rooms  of  the  suites  connect  but  have  double 
doors  to  insure  perfect  privacy.  The  upper  floor, 
or  sixth  story,  furnished  in  light  California  wood,  is 
devoted  to  bachelor  apartments,  where  smoking  is 
not  forbidden! 

The  theatre  connects  with  the  hotel,  and  two  min 
utes  before  each  act  the  prompter  touches  a  bell  ring 
ing  in  the  bar,  so  that  thirsty  souls  may  appease  the 
pangs  of  drought  with  no  danger  of  losing  any  part 
of  the  play.  Altogether,  we  must  confess  that  Mr. 
Baldwin's  hotel,  like  his  theatre,  is  quite  the  model 
building  of  its  class  in  this  our  model  country. 


SETTLERS  IN  ECHO  CANON.     Page  71. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE     ROSES     OP     SANTA     ROSA. 

RISING-  at  six  one  fine  morning  we  ate  such  breakfast 
as  was  possible  at  that  crude  hour,  and  embarked 
for  the  first  stage  of  our  journey  to  the  Geysers.  The  sail 
up  the  bay  was  a  repetition  of  Sunday's  experience,  and 
at  Doriohue  Landing  we  took  the  train  for  Cloverdale,  and 
were  soon  flying  through  the  loveliest  country  imaginable 
— a  perfect  Arcadia.  The  land  was  level  and  an  almost 
unbroken  mass  of  verdure  and  bloom,  field  after  field  of 
wild  grain,  which  in  California  holds  the  place  of  grass 
with  us,  with  great  wide-armed  trees  brooding  over  it, 
live  and  white  oaks,  garlanded  with  gray  moss,  laurels 
and  chestnut  trees ;  here  and  there  were  tracts  of  wild 
poppies,  great  solid  sheets  of  golden  bloom  without  a  blade 
of  green,  flaming  in  the  sunshine  until  the  eye  was  daz 
zled  with  their  glory,  broad  patches  of  blue  and  purple 
and  orange  flowers  of  names  unknown,  and,  darting  over 
and  among  them,  whole  flocks  of  birds  with  colors  as  vivid 
as  the  flowers — blue-jays,  blackbirds  with  scarlet  epaulets, 
burnished  blue-black  magpies,  and  quails  with  oddly  plumed 
heads,  sitting  fearlessly  upon  the  fences.  Here  and  there 
were  great  herds  of  cattle  and  flocks  of  sheep,  but  happily 
very  few  signs  beside  of  the  occupancy  or  dominion  of 
man. 


AN  AMERICAN  SAINT.  195 

At  Santa  Rosa  we  left  the  train  for  a  little  explora 
tion,  and  found  the  Mayor  and  some  of  the  dignitaries  of 
the  place  awaiting  us  with  hospitable  and  courteous  intent, 
and  three  vehicles  in  readiness  to  cany  us  around  the 
town,  which  certainly  is  well  worth  the  seeing.  Santa  Rosa 
is  named  in  honor  of  the  first  and  we  believe  only  Ameri 
can  saint  in  the  Romish  calendar.  She  was  an  inhabi 
tant  of  Lima,  in  Peru,  a  charming  girl,  endowed  with 
numberless  graces  of  body  and  soul,  and  enthusiastically 
given  to  practices  of  religion,  sighing  in  her  fervent  de 
votion  for  the  palm  of  martyrdom,  even  of  the  most 
terrible  nature.  After  her  death,  the  Pope  then  occupy 
ing  St.  Peter's  chair  was  requested  to  canonize  her,  but 
refused  to  do  so,  expressing  the  greatest  incredulity  at  the 
notion  of  a  holy  virgin  having  lived  and  died  in  Lima,  of 
all  places.  Urged  yet  farther,  he  exclaimed,  "  Yes,  when 
roses  fall  from  out  the  skies  upon  my  head,  I  will  believe 
that  this  Rosa  was  all  that  you  claim,  and  will  surely 
canonize  her ! " 

No  sooner  had  the  words  passed  the  lips  of  the  holy 
father — you  will  not  doubt  the  legend  surely — than  a 
heavenly  perfume  filled  the  apartment  and  a  shower  of 
the  fairest  and  sweetest  roses  fell  upon  his  head  and  hands, 
and  slid  meekly  to  his  feet.  Astonished  and  humiliated, 
the  Pope  hastened  to  fulfil  his  pledge,  canonized  the  fair 
Limeiia  without  delay,  and  named  her  Patron  Saint  of  her 
native  America.  Churches  and  convents  have  been  called 
in  her  honor,  and  in  one  of  the  finest  of  these  latter  at 
Lima  her  remains  are  religiously  preserved.  No  doubt 
it  is  in  consequence  of  her  fostering  care,  but  surely  roses 


196  A  MODERN  EDEN. 

never  bloomed  more  beautifully  or  perfectly  than  in  this 
little  Calif ornian  town  whose  name  is  hers. 

In  one  garden  was  a  giant  rose-bush  twenty-five  feet 
high,  with  a  sturdy  trunk  like  a  tree,  and  the  top  one 
snowy  globe  of  blossoms.  In  another  garden  we  saw  an 
evergreen,  up  which  a  climbing  white  rose  had  made  its 
way  and  thrust  forth  sprays  of  creamy  roses  from  among 
the  dark  foliage  with  a  wonderfully  pretty  effect. 

The  Mayor  was  a  jolly  sort  of  personage,  with  an  up 
roarious  laugh  and  a  thoroughly  hearty  manner,  who  ad 
dressed  the  Chief  simply  as  "  Colonel,"  and  invited  us  all 
into  the  bar-room  for  a  treat  of  beer.  The  editor  of  the 
Sonoma  Democrat ,  Mr,  Thompson,  accompanied  the 
Mayor  and  made  a  very  agreeable  addition  to  the  party. 
He  has  lived  in  Santa  Rosa  for  twenty  years,  and  is  en 
thusiastic  both  as  to  its  present  and  future.  Still  one 
could  but  wonder  that  a  man  of  Mr.  Thompson's  rare 
erudition,  intellect,  and  refinement  could  be  happy  so  far 
away  from  a  great  literary  centre.  The  Mayor  also  was 
enthusiastic  about  his  pretty  little  town,  averring  that  it 
possessed  the  best  climate,  less  high  wind  and  more  rain 
fall,  and  the  healthiest  influences  of  any  in  California. 
Fruit  and  flowers,  he  said,  could  be  had  for  the  picking 
eleven  months  in  the  year,  and  grew  with  scarcely  any 
cultivation.  There  is  a  church  in  this  town  eighty  feet 
deep,  forty  wide,  and  thirty  in  height,  every  plank  and 
shingle  of  which  were  cut  from  a  single  red- wood  tree. 
This  wood  is  beautiful  for  building  purposes,  requiring 
only  a  coat  of  varnish  upon  the  surface  to  bring  out  the 
richest  warm  color  imaginable. 


THE  GREAT  RED- WOOD  TREES.          107 

The  Sonoma  red-wood  grove  is  near  Santa  Rosa,  and 
the  Mayor  and  his  party  proposed  escorting  ns  thither. 
Upon  the  way  back  to  the  station  we  craved  and  obtained 
from  Mr.  Thompson  a  few  statistical  items,  such  as  that 
the  population  of  Santa  Rosa  has  within  five  years  ad 
vanced  from  one  thousand  to  six  thousand,  and  that  she 
possesses  five  churches,  and  two  colleges,  one  under  the 
Methodist,  the  other  under  Campbell-Baptist  patronage. 

From  Santa  Rosa  we  passed  through  the  rich  and 
lovely  scenery  of  the  Sonoma  Valley  into  a  region  where 
the  track  began  to  wind  and  curve  between  steep  hill 
sides  black  with  huge  pines  and  cedars,  crossing  and  re- 
crossing  the  little  deep-green  stream  of  the  Russian  River. 
We  were  in  the  red-wood  country,  and  the  trees  began  to 
shoot  higher  towards  heaven  tall,  dark  trunks,  straight  as 
masts,  and  beginning  to  throw  out  branches  at  about  the 
height  common  trees  leave  off  altogether ;  here  and  there 
were  patches  of  blackened  giant  stumps,  and  here  and 
there  lumber  yards,  until  of  a  sudden  the  trees  seemed  to 
crowd  down  and  close  across  our  path,  the  train  stopped, 
and  we  dismounted  in  the  heart  of  the  Sonoma  red-wrood 
forest.  Those  who  knew  told  us  to  restrain  our  superla 
tives  of  wonder  and  admiration  until  we  saw  the  really 
"  big  trees  "  of  Calaveras  and  Mariposa,  the  world-famous 
Sequois ;  but  after  all,  size  is  not  the  only  measure  of 
beauty,  or  astonishment  the  highest  proof  of  delight,  and 
many  of  us  enjoyed  more  in  wandering  through  the  cool 
dark  depths  of  this  grove,  looking  up  to  the  rustling  roof 
of  foliage  so  far  above  our  heads  that  we  could  scarce 
distinguish  the  leaves,  and  listening  to  the  roar  of  the  wind 


198  THE  COUNTRY  INNS  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

in  their  unseen  crests  like  the  roll  of  surf  upon  a  distant 
Ashore,  than  we  did  subsequently  at  Mariposa. 

The  rest  of  the  journey  was  pleasant,  but  uneventful, 
and  we  reached  Cloverdale  in  time  for  dinner  in  the  big, 
bare  dining-room  of  the  pleasant  inn.  These  country  inns 
of  California  were  quite  charming — more  like  those  one 
finds  in  the  heart  of  rural  England  than  those  to  be  seen 
elsewhere  in  America — long,  low,  two-storied  houses,  with 
plenty  of  cosy  little  rooms,  clean  and  homely,  but,  unlike 
England,  with  no  arrangements  for  fire,  and  with  a  long, 
wide  piazza  across  the  front.  We  saw  nothing  of  quiet 
little  Cloverdale  except  the  inn,  and  after  dinner  found 
the  stage  awaiting  us — a  great  open  vehicle  with  five  seats, 
capable  of  accommodating  three  persons  on  each — and  a 
big  black-bearded  driver.  We  started  at  once ;  and 
much  as  we  had  previously  enjoyed  California  scenery, 
this  afternoon's  experience  was  the  climax.  The  air 
was  warm  and  peculiarly  sweet,  the  slanting  lights  ex 
quisite,  the  shadows  artistic,  and  the  rapid  Russian  River, 
which  we  waded  twice,  with  the  water  up  to  our  horses' 
girths,  full  of  life  and  verve. 

Presently  we  struck  into  Sulphur  Creek  Canon,  a  wild 
and  wonderful  mountain  gorge,  where  the  road  is  hewn 
out  of  the  face  of  a  precipice,  with  a  sheer  descent  of 
three  or  four  hundred  feet  between  it  and  the  river-bed 
below,  and  a  wall  of  rock  above,  crowned  with  a  fringe  of 
dark-green  trees.  The  road  is  safe,  no  doubt,  but  there  is 
not  a  foot  of  ground  to  spare  between  the  wheel-tracks 
and  the  unguarded  edge,  and  as  it  winds  and  doubles 
around  a  series  of  capes  and  promontories,  succeeding 


A   TERRIFIC  DRIVE.  199 

each  other  like  the  links  of  a  chain,  the  leaders  of  our 
spirited  "four-in-hand"  were  often  invisible  to  the  occu 
pants  of  the  back  seat  of  the  coach.  Our  driver  at  least 
knew  no  fear,  and  dashed  along  in  grand  style,  grinding 
the  edge  of  the  precipice  with  his  outer  wheels  as  he 
swung  round  the  sharpest  carves  at  a  dead  run,  often 
lashing  his  horses  into  a  gallop,  and  laconically  answering 
the  timid  and  respectful  inquiry  whether  such  a  course 
was  quite  safe,  with  the  phrase  "  You  bet ! " 

This  gentleman  was  not  a  conversational  person,  and, 
it  is  to  be  feared,  was  something  of  a  misogynist.  At  any 
rate,  he  expressed  great  contempt  for  the  terror  of  the 
ladies,  and  sneered  cruelly  at  our  desire  to  see  a  grizzly 
bear,  which  amiable  creature  is  still  occasionally  to  be  met 
with  in  this  vicinity. 

"I'd  like  to  see  you  hold  them  horses  if  a  grizzly 
showed  his  snout.  I  couldn't  do  it,"  remarked  he,  and 
then  in  a  burst  of  confidence  went  on  to  say  that  this 
road  had  been  opened  only  a  few  years,  and  that  he 
drove  u  the  first  wheel "  that  ever  passed  over  it.  We 
longed  to  inquire  if  this  wheel  was  attached  to  a  wheel 
barrow,  but  refrained,  and  found  ourselves  rewarded  by 
the  farther  information  that  our  friend  had  been  "  staging 
it"  for  twenty -five  years  without  a  single  accident;  that 
he  was  both  owner  and  driver  of  this  entire  line,  consist 
ing  of  five  coaches  and  twenty  horses,  and  that  his  net 
profits  at  the  end  of  the  year  were  just  about  enough  to 
keep  him  in  clothes. 

"I  go  stagin'  for  glory,  I  do,"  remarked  he,  and  then 
evidently  feeling  that  he  had  sufficiently  sacrificed  to  the 


200  OUR  DRIVER. 

curiosity  of  the  female  sex  and  the  duties  of  hospitality, 
he  closed  his  mouth  like  a  steel  trap,  and  opened  it  no 
more,  except  for  the  surliest  monosyllables,  only  unbending 
so  far  as  to  point  out  the  Madrona  trees  (big  mothers),  so 
called  by  the  Spaniards,  from  their  size.  They  are  won 
derfully  beautiful,  their  great,  glossy  trunks  and  branches 
glowing  with  a  color  like  burnished  copper,  shading  into 
cinnamon  flecked  with  gold,  and  having  a  curious  grape- 
like  bloom  upon  them.  The  glossy,  green  leaves,  too,  are 
touched  with  g)ld,  so  that  even  in  shadow  the  trees  look 
as  if  the  sun  were  shining  upon  them,  and  in  sunshine 
they  blaze  with  splendor  against  the  deep-blue  background 
of  the  mountain  sky. 

The  white  oaks,  too,  were  very  attractive  with  their 
broad,  low  crests,  the  gray  Spanish  moss  flaunting  like 
banners  from  their  sturdy  arms,  mixed  with  great  knots 
of  mistletoe,  enough  to  furnish  forth  a  whole  college 
of  Druids,  or  all  England's  Christmas  festivities.  The 
birds  flitted  in  and  out  of  this  dark  foliage,  bright  as 
winged  flowers,  and  about  sunset  gave  us  a  grand  vesper 
chorus,  at  sound  of  which  the  gay  little  lizards,  gray,  and 
brown,  and  bright  blue,  slid  out  of  sight  beneath  the 
stones ;  the  shadows  stole  from  the  depths  of  the  pine 
trees,  and  crowded  down  to  fill  the  depths  of  the  canon, 
and  Nature  was  so  obviously  preparing  for  her  night's  rest 
that  we  were  quite  relieved  when,  at  a  sudden  turn  of  the 
road,  we  came  in  sight  of  the  Geysers,  whose  steamy  vapor 
gleamed  purple  in  the  sunset  light. 

We  passed  an  abandoned  quicksilver  mine,  gaping  and 
desolate,  with  its  ruined  roofless  buildings,  and  just  as  the 


A  BRIDAL  PARTY.  201 

sunset  chill  began  to  creep  np  from  the  canon,  arrived  afc 
the  little  mountain  inn  where  we  were  to  pass  the  night. 
It  was  a  little  straggling  low-roofed  building,  from  whose 
windows  gleamed  the  welcome  of  a  blazing  wood-fire. 
Cold,  weary,  and  hungry,  we  stiffly  descended  from  our 
perches,  and  were  shown  into  the  cosy  little  parlor,  where, 
beside  the  fire,  we  found  welcome  from  some  travellers 
already  enjoying  it,  and  were  glad  to  recognize  the  bride 
whose  nuptials  made  so  great  an  excitement  in  the 
fashionable  world  of  New  York  last  winter. 

Herself  and  husband  had  been  at  the  Geysers  earlier 
in  the  season,  and  were  pleased  with  the  quaint  little 
mountain  inn,  and  they  had  returned  to  pass  another 
week  there.  The  bride  seemed  happy  and  cheerful,  and 
had  lost  nothing,  in  her  newly-acquired  matronly  dignity, 
of  the  genial  grace  of  manner  which  had  made  her,  as 

Miss  B, ,  so  many  friends  in  her  widely-extended  circle. 

The  handsome  young  husband,  with  his  thoroughbred, 
rather  English  air,  seemed  born  to  the  millions  which  had 
come  to  him  by  kind  fortune  and  with  his  amiable  and 
accomplished  wife,  and  we  passed  a  pleasant  hour  chatting 
of  mutual  friends  and  acquaintances,  of  our  own  city, 
and  of  others  that  both  parties  had  recently  visited,  of  the 
bridal  party's  abandoned  trip  to  China  and  approaching 
European  tour,  until  we  parted  for  the  night  with  a  cor 
dial  grasp  of  the  hand,  mutual  good  wishes,  and,  on  our 
side  at  least,  with  a  fervent  and  heartfelt  prayer  for 
future  happiness  and  prosperity  among  the  chances  and 
changes  of  this  most  uncertain  life. 

A  little  later  we  all  enjoyed  an  entertainment  certainly 


202  ACOUSTIC  PROPERTIES  OF  THE  HOTEL. 

not  set  down  in  the  programme.  The  Geyser  Hotel  is 
constructed  upon  a  novel  and  decidedly  breezy  plan,  the 
corridors  being  all  open  to  the  outer  air,  and  the  bed 
rooms  each  having  a  door  upon  the  piazza  running  around 
the  house ;  besides  these  conveniences  for  communication, 
the  partitions  are  nothing  but  thin  boarding,  considerably 
shrunken,  and  conversation  can  be  carried  on  with  perfect 
ease  from  one  end  of  the  establishment  to  the  other,  even 
after  every  door  is  shut  that  CAN  be  shut.  The  conse 
quence  of  this  arrangement,  on  this  particular  evening, 
was  that  we  all  heard  ourselves  discussed  with  a  frank 
ness  and  candor  not  usually  granted  to  one's  own  ears. 

The  little  inn  was  full  of  guests,  and  probably  no  two 
of  them  failed  of  some  remark  upon  the  new  arrivals. 
The  rival  claims  to  beauty  of  the  various  ladies  of  the 
party — for  our  ranks  had  been  recruited  by  a  lovely 
widowed  friend  from  California — their  toilets,  manners, 
and  identity  were  all  freely  discussed,  and  the  two  mar 
ried  gentlemen  of  our  company  had  the  satisfaction  of 
hearing  their  wives  freely  bestowed  upon  each  other  or 
upon  the  bachelors,  while  the  charming  widow  was  made 
a  wife  once  more,  and  one  of  the  wives  set  down  as  a 
widow,  the  maiden  married,  and  a  general  new  distribu 
tion  of  the  party  effected  with  the  most  charming  celerity 
and  certainty. 

We  must  confess,  however,  that  nothing  malicious  or 
slanderous  was  heard,  and  when  the  subject  in  the  adjoin 
ing  rooms  turned  from  ourselves  to  the  personal  affairs  of 
the  gossipers,  the  rap  of  a  brush-handle  upon  the  door 
secured  silence  and  the  possibility  of  slumber. 


CHAPTER  XXin. 

THE    GEYSERS    AND    POSSE    OP    FOSSEVILLB. 

IT  is  proper  to  begin  a  day  at  the  Geysers  by  visiting 
the  baths,  of  which  there  is  quite  a  variety.  Passing 
down  the  canon  opposite  the  house,  and  keeping  along 
the  bed  of  a  stream,  one  arrives  at  a  little  rustic  bridge, 
and  crossing  it  to  the  bath-houses,  takes  one's  choice 
between  hot  sulphurous  water,  dense  steam — also  sul 
phurous — and  a  cold  plunge  in  the  river. 

The  odors  of  the  sulphur  baths  were  odious,  but  the 
waters  felt  pleasant,  and  left  a  delightful  sensation  upon 
the  skin. 

Coming  out  of  the  houses  we  wandered  a  little  farther 
up  the  canon  and  seated  ourselves  upon  the  dry,  crum 
bling  soil,  through  which  jets  of  vapor  were  spouting  here 
and  there,  some  close  beside  the  river,  as  if  its  clear, 
cold  waters  had  been  subterraneously  boiled  and  were 
throwing  off  steam. 

The  Geysers  are  seen  to  greater  advantage  at  early  morn 
ing  than  later  in  the  day,  as  the  vapor  condenses  more 
in  the  chill  hour  before  sunrise  than  afterward,  and  we 
sat  for  awhile  content  to  watch  the  Afrit-like  shapes  of  the 
columns  of  steam  rising  and  forming,  and  then  dissolving 
in  endless  succession,  while  the  level  rays  of  the  rising 
sun  touched  first  the  crest  of  the  rocky  walls  of  the  canon, 


204  A  SCENE  OF  DESOLATION. 

then  crept  slowly  down,  lighting  the  cold,  gray  rock  and 
black-green  evergreens  to  warmth  and  life,  and  making 
prisms  and  irises  of  the  cloudy  stream-wreaths. 

But  even  the  sunlight  and  the  morning  could  not  alter 
the  general  mournful,  uncanny,  blasted  look  of  natrre  in 
all  this  region,  the  soil,  apparently  of  crumbled  pumice 
stone,  is  ghastly  in  its  pale-gray  color,  unenlivened  by  ver 
dure  or  the  tender  brown  of  arable  earth  ;  the  river 
moaned  and  murmured  as  if  those  subterranean  fires  were 
scorching  its  life-springs,  and  clouds  of  vapor  assumed 
more  and  more  fantastic  shapes. 

After  breakfast  we  set  forth  for  the  regular  tour  of 
the  Geysers,  crossing  the  stream  at  the  foot  of  the  caiion, 
and  winding  a  little  trail  into  another  gorge,  wild  and 
steep,  and  gradually  bringing  us  into  the  region  of  purely 
mineral  and  chemical  life,  with  little  trace  of  vegetable 
or  animal  existence. 

The  soil,  after  passing  a  landmark  called  the  Devil's 
Arm-Chair,  and  the  Magnesia  Spring,  is  a  mere  crust  of 
crystallizations  of  sulphur  and  lime,  beds  of  cinnabar,  like 
wet  red  paint,  green  incrustations  of  copper,  and  brilliant 
yellow  patches  of  brimstone,  everything  wet  with  the  oos- 
ing  mineral  waters,  and  scalding  hot  to  the  touch,  the  air 
dense  with  horrible  fumes  and  clouds  of  hot  steam  puff 
ing  up  into  one's  face,  jets  of  boiling  water  spirting  under 
one's  feet,  and  black,  bubbling  pools  lying  ready  to  entrap 
the  unwary ;  the  loose  and  friable  soil  crumbles  beneath 
the  tread,  and  seems  to  breathe  heat,  so  that  one  feels  as 
if  walking  over  an  endless  series  of  registers,  with  a  seven- 
times  heated  furnace  underneath. 


THE  WITCHES'  CAULDRON,  CAL.     Page  205. 


THE  WITCHES'   CAULDRON.  205 

Few  mortal  experiences  can  give  so  vivid  an  idea  of 
the  infernal  regions,  and  were  I  a  great  reformer  of  the 
Calviriistie  school,  I  would  simply  engage  Mr.  Cook  to 
take  all  my  converts  to  this  valley,  upon  a  gigantic  excur 
sion,  sure  that  it  would  do  more  to  frighten  them  from 
evil  courses  than  any  amount  of  preaching. 

The  Witches  Cauldron,  black  as  ink,  leaping,  bub 
bling,  and  hissing,  is  all  but  hidden  in  the  dense  clouds 
of  vapor,  so  that  one  only  sees  it  through  the  rifts,  and 
may  fancy  it  limitless  in  extent,  and  peopled  with  the 
spirits  of  the  damned  ;  there  is  a  continual  rumbling  and 
roaring  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  which  suggests  the 
pleasing  idea  of  an  earthquake  possible  at  any  moment. 
The  utter  absence  of  vegetation  and  of  animal  life  adds  a 
certain  horror  to  the  scene,  suggesting  a  world  in  process 
of  extinction,  where  man,  the  latest  and  highest  form  of 
creation,  is  also  to  be  the  last  to  perish. 

This  gorge  is  appropriately  called  the  Devil's  Canon, 
and  the  heat,  and  the  steam,  and  the  sounds,  and  the 
smells,  and  the  vague  horror  of  the  whole  intensified,  un 
til  we  reached  the  Devil's  Pulpit,  a  huge  crag,  closing  the 
valley  and  commanding  its  whole  sweep,  the  pools  in  the 
bottom  round  which  our  path  had  skirted,  and  the  steep 
bare  sides,  patched  all  yellow  and  scarlet,  and  ashy  white, 
with  hundreds  of  jets  of  steam  and  smoke  bursting  out  in 
every  direction.  Such  a  picture  must  have  been  in  John 
Banyan's  mind  when  he  described  Christian's  journey 
through  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death,  and  we  were 
fain  to  fancy  the  dark  evergreen  forests  of  Sulphur 
Canon,  which  closed  the  distant  view,  as  representing  the 


206  OVER  A    VOLCANO. 

Delectable  Mountains,  and  the  little  white  hotel  nestling 
in  its  fertile  clearing,  as  the  House  Beautiful  with  its  fair 
inmates. 

Perhaps  the  gray-headed  and  learned  looking  man,  in 
a  linen  duster,  whom  we  found  wandering  in  the  Valley  ? 
was  the  Interpreter.  At  any  rate,  he  joined  himself  to 
our  party  in  a  friendly  manner,  and  informed  us  with  the 
voice  of  authority,  that  the  phenomena  of  this  spot  was 
occasioned  by  the  action  of  various  chemical  agencies 
meeting  and  conflicting  just  beneath  the  surface  of  the 
ground.  Our  guide,  however,  not  a  bit  like  Great-Heart, 
by  the  way,  pooh-poohed  this  theory  with  great  scorn,  in 
sisting  that  the  region  was  volcanic,  and  the  commotion 
we  witnessed  was  but  a  feeble  exponent  of  much  more 
terrible  disturbances  deep  down  below  our  feet.  In  fact, 
the  savant  would  have  the  trouble  a  mere  cutaneous  dis 
order,  of  little  real  importance,  while  the  guide  consid 
ered  it  symptomatic  of  deep  organic  disease.  I  myself 
inclined  to  the  latter  theory  as  being  more  terrific  and  ex 
citing,  and  walked  gingerly  about  on  the  crisp  lava-like 
surface  of  the  subterraneous  volcano,,  expecting  each  mo 
ment  when  it  should  explode  and  blow  our  theories  and 
ourselves  sky-high,  whence  we  might  take  a  wider  view 
of  the  matter ! 

In  support  of  his  side  of  the  question,  the  guide  pres 
ently  led  us  past  the  Devil's  Pulpit,  through  a  pretty  lit 
tle  path  suddenly  blossoming  out  of  the  waste,  to  the 
crater  of  what  he  declared  to  be  an  extinct  volcano.  It 
was  a  great  circular  depression  in  the  earth,  its  surface 
dry  and  baked  with  patches  of  mineral  deposit,  variegat- 


1HE  INDIAN  VAPOR  BATH.  207 

ing  its  dull  ashen  color,  and  sounding  hollow  beneath  our 
feet  as  we  stamped  upon  it. 

Especially,  we  noticed  some  lovely  needle-like  crystals 
of  sulphur,  so  delicate  that  they  crumbled  at  a  touch,  and 
altogether  could  well  believe  that  in  some  unremembered 
age,  this  mournful  basin  was  filled  with  boiling  lava,  and 
sent  forth  its  desolating  streams  to  fill  the  valley  beyond. 
The  little  track  wound  on  in  a  gentle  curve,  passing  a 
great  white  oak  bent  nearly  to  the  ground,  with  a  hole  in 
the  side  where  visitors  are  in  the  habit  of  thrusting  their 
cards  for  the  benefit  of  acquaintances  who  may  chance  to 
come  after.  Some  grass  and  bushes  timidly  appear  here 
and  there,  but  the  path  presently  curves  away  from  them, 
and  sweeps  into  the  region  of  Geysers  again. 

The  Indians'  vapor  bath  is  a  deep  cave  in  the  side  of  a 
hill,  filled  with  scalding  hot  steam,  which  rises  and  hangs 
around  the  entrance  in  a  dense  cloud ;  the  Indians  used 
to  resort  here  yearly  for  this  bath  until  within  a  brief 
period,  but  now  come  no  more.  Near  by  is  a  safety  valve 
through  which  the  hot  air  puffs  in  regular  blasts  with  a 
hoarse  roaring  sound,  and  such  force  as  to  eject  pebbles 
thrown  into  the  opening  some  three  or  four  feet  into  the 
air. 

As  we  passed  we  saw  a  picturesque  group  of  hunters 
on  horseback  and  on  foot,  slowly  climbing  the  steep  foot 
hill  beyond,  with  dogs  and  a  pack-mule  following,  and 
were  told  that  game  is  various  and  abundant  in  this  region, 
ranging  from  grizzly  bears  to  woodcock. 

The  trail  wound  around  the  steep  sweep  of  the  hills  a 
little  farther,  and  then  down  to  the  little  stream  at  the 


208  A  SUBLIME  VIEW. 

bottom  of  the  canon,  and  so  by  the  bath-houses  to  the  hotel 
where  we  rested  an  hour,  lunched,  and  were  ready  at  one 
o'clock  to  mount  the  open  stage-wagon  with  its  four  fine 
horses  driven  by  a  son  of  Fosse,  the  celebrated  horse- 
breaker  and  stage  driver  of  this  region,  although,  indeed, 
his  reputation  extends  all  over  California. 

The  stage  was  to  convey  us  to  Fosse ville  and  Calistoga, 
where  we  were  to  take  the  cars  again  for  the  home  trip, 
travellers  generally  preferring  to  go  by  the  Cloverdale 
and  return  by  the  Calistoga  road,  instead  of  retracing  their 
steps.  We  had  been  assured  that  this  part  of  the  route 
would  prove  far  more  terrific  than  that  we  had  passed  on 
the  previous  day,  and  had  braced  ourselves  to  a  pitch  of 
unshrinking  and  unshrieking  courage  quite  beautiful  to 
contemplate,  but  altogether  wasted  as  the  event  proved, 
for  the  road  was,  if  anything,  a  little  less  dangerous,  and 
the  scenery  even  more  beautiful  than  that  previously 
passed. 

Both  road  and  scenery  presented  the  same  general 
features,  a  deep  canon  with  the  road  cut  in  the  side  of  one 
of  the  ranges  enclosing  it ;  the  same  curving  and  doubling 
and  serpentine  festooning  around  head-lands,  and  capes  of 
rock  rising  hundreds  of  feet  above  our  heads,  and  falling 
hundreds  of  feet  below  to  the  sombre  depths  of  the  gorge, 
and  the  ail-but  inaudible  river  far  beneath.  To-day,  how 
ever,  the  canon  was  wider  and  the  scene  more  extended  ; 
at  almost  the  highest  point  we  passed  a  little  cabin  perched 
like  an  eyrie  above  the  world,  and  commanding  a  view  of 
the  whole  Sonoma  Yalley,  a  great  green  trench,  with  no 
track  through  it  except  this  one  clinging  to  the  side  of 


POETIC  PINE  FLAT.  209 

the  canon,  and  the  bright  watercourses  sparkling  through 
it. 

Beginning  to  descend,  we  passed  over  the  Dog's  Back, 
which  some  one  lias  described  as  a  most  awful  and  perilous 
pass,  but  to  us  it  seemed  no  worse  and  no  different  from 
several  similar  points  of  the  route ;  the  precipices  above 
and  below  were  steep  and  the  road  not  the  one  we  should 
select  to  train  a  frisky  four-in-hand  team  upon,  but  it  was 
wide  enough  for  our  safe  passage,  and  the  curve  not 
nearly  so  sharp  as  some  around  which  we  had  jauntily 
swung. 

The  view  from  this  point  was  sublime,  but  although  a 
succession  of  slightly  varying  views  bring  with  themselves 
a  sufficient  difference  of  charm  to  sustain  the  interest  for 
days  and  days,  the  English  language  contains  but  twenty- 
six  letters,  and  no  very  varied  vocabulary  of  adjectives,  so 
that  we  spare  all  farther  description  of  the  fringy  moun 
tain  lilacs  beside  the  road,  and  the  great  splendid  Ma- 
drona  trees  ablaze  in  the  sunshine,  and  simply  say  that 
descending  precipitously  from  the  heights  whereon  we 
had  dwelt  for  two  days,  we  came  into  a  green  and  level 
region,  and  by  and  by  stopped  at  a  little  wayside  station 
consisting  of  half  a  dozen  houses  hidden  in  a  grove  of  pine 
trees. 

This  was  Pine  Flat,  of  poetic  celebrity,  but  now  falling 
to  decay,  the  population  having  within  two  years  dwindled 
from  six  thousand  to  fifteen  souls,  its  present  census.  The 
abandonment  of  the  quicksilver  mines  in  the  vicinity  is 
the  cause  of  this  exodus,  and  the  only  present  industry  of 
Pine  Flat  is  the  collection  of  minerals  and  crystals  which 


210  AN  AG GRESSIVE  A  UTO CRA T. 

are  offered  for  sale  to  travellers,  just  as  similar  products 
are  at  Vesuvius  and  Pestum. 

From  Pine  Flat  we  drove  through  a  pleasant  uninterest 
ing  country  of  several  miles,  and  finally  arrived  at  Fosse- 
ville  and  drew  up  before  the  castle  of  Fosse  himself ;  it 
was  a  charming  white  house  with  a  huge  white-oak  before 
the  door,  and  quantities  of  flowers  botli  inside  and  outside 
of  a  huge  garden.  The  great  Fosse  came  forward  to  meet 
us,  or  rather  to  upbraid  and  reprove  us,  for  it  seems  we 
had  been  expected  to  dine  and  perhaps  pass  the  night,  and 
a  banquet  had  been  prepared  and  spoiled  by  waiting; 
furthermore,  Fosse  himself  had  driven  out  six-in-hand  to 
meet  us,  and  coming  home  disappointed  had  solaced  him 
self  with  whiskey  to  an  extent  not  increasing  his  natural 
amiability.  He  is  a  great,  burly  fellow,  a  native  of  New 
Hampshire,  and  so  long  accustomed  to  autocracy  in  this 
region,  as  to  bitterly  resent  such  disregard  of  his  plans 
and  efforts,  as  we  unwittingly  had  shown.  He  accordingly 
received  us  very  gruffly,  and  evidently  had  resolved  to 
make  us  feel  the  penalty  of  his  displeasure. 

We  were  shown  to  the  charmingly  neat  rooms  prepared 
for  us  by  his  amiable,  pretty,  young  wife,  and  spent  half 
an  hour  in  removing  so  much  as  was  possible  of  the  coat 
ing  of  red  dust,  in  which  we  were  encased  like  mummies 
in  asphaltum.  Descending,  we  found  Fosse  himself  seated 
upon  the  driver's  seat  of  the  wagon  prepared  to  take  us  to 
Calistoga,  but  no  sooner  had  we  started,  than  it  became 
apparent  that  his  ill-humor  had  only  increased  by  expres 
sion,  and  had  reached  a  pitch  beyond  the  power  of  the 
softest  words  to  turn  away — even  the  Sultana's  eloquence 


BEHIND  A  SIX-IN-HAND.  211 

being  tried  upon  him  without  the  slightest  effect.  "What 
was  worse,  this  mood  found  expression  in  his  mode  of 
managing  the  six  horses  who  tore  along  at  a  rate  threaten 
ing  to  project  us  all  into  the  road  at  the  slightest  notice, 
and  the  result  of  the  whole  was,  that  it  was  considered 
wisest  to  bend  to  the  offended  power  and  return  to  pass 
the  night  and  eat  the  funeral  baked  meats  as  best  we 
might. 

The  word  wras  said,  the  six  horses  wheeled  as  if  on  a 
pivot,  and  we  tore  back  again,  having  been  absent  from 
the  house  about  ten  minutes,  and  traversed  about  three 
miles.  A  supper  \vas  served  which  did  ample  justice  to 
the  landlord's  grumbling  complaints  as  to  the  trouble  and 
expense  of  the  wasted  dinner,  and  while  it  was  preparing 
we  walked  in  the  pretty  garden,  and  down  a  planked  path 
to  a  little  cottage  buried  in  roses  and  white  blossomed 
vines ;  it  is  let  to  lodgers  and  is  quite  the  ideal  nest  in 
which  a  pair  of  newly-wedded  doves  might  pass  their 
honey-moon. 

Our  lovely  young  widow  decked  herself  in  roses  and 
made  her  travelling  dress  fit  for  a  ball-room,  but  she 
herself  was  still  the  freshest  and  sweetest  rose  of  all,  as 
both  eyes  and  whispers  told  her.  After  supper  a  roaring 
wood-fire,  and  a  new  upright  piano  and  the  widow's  sym 
pathetic  voice  made  the  little  parlor  charming,  and  we 
passed  a  happy  although  short  evening,  for  every  one  was 
weary,  and  at  an  early  hour  sought  the  sweet,  fresh  bed 
rooms  where  rest  and  sleep  awaited  them. 

Breakfast  was  as  good  as  the  supper  had  been,  and  at 
.  last  with  lightened  consciences  and  somewhat  lightened 


213 


THE  NAP  A    VALLEY. 


purses,  we  again  mounted  the  big  stage,  and  were  driven 
by  the  comforted  but  not  quite  genial  Fosse,  to  Calistoga, 
making  the  six  miles  in  twenty-one  minutes! 

The  four-hours  journey  by  rail  from  this  place  is 
through  the  Napa  Valley,  a  lovely  cultivated  country,  with 
miles  of  vineyards,  where  the  vines  look  like  a  bouquet  of 
leaves  tied  to  a  sturdy  stalk,  hardly  a  foot  high.  We 
passed  Mr.  Woodward's  charming  country  seat,  saw  the 
State  Lunatic  Asylum,  and,  as  we  took  the  steamboat,  had 
a  glimpse  of  the  Navy  Yard. 

Then  another  delightful  sail  with  old  Tamalpais  wel 
coming  us  back  to  the  region  where  he  presides,  until  at 
length  tired,  dusty,  disordered,  but  rich  in  new  experiences 
and  pictured  memories,  we  arrived  at  the  Palace  Hotel 
and  revelled  once  more  in  all  the  appliances  of  the  highest 
civilization. 


A  DRIVE  WITH  FOSSE  OF  FOSSEVILLE. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

LAST     DAYS     IN     SAN     FRANCISCO. 

IT  had  been  decided  that  after  the  visit  to  the  Yose- 
mite  Valley,  which  is,  of  course,  inevitable  in  every 
Calif ornian  tour,  we  should  explore  the  Southern  part  of 
the  State  to  some  extent,  and  return  to  the  direct  home 
ward  route  without  revisiting  the  Golden  Gate,  and  as 
the  day  of  our  departure  drew  near,  every  member  of  the 
party  began,  each  in  his  or  her  own  fashion,  to  make 
those  frantic  and  futile  snatches  at  the  special  delight 
they  were  about  to  lose,  which  are  a  feature  of  almost 
every  departure  whether  from  a  scene  of  enjoyment  or 
life  itself. 

For  our  own  part  we  haunted  the  Chinese  quarter, 
greedily  gathering  up  every  item  of  novelty,  every  inti 
mation  of  the  hidden  life  of  this  strange  people,  and  so 
many  tangible  memorials  of  our  visit  as  the  limits  of  our 
purse  and  trunks  would  allow.* 

We  visited  Lee  Yip  and  his  silver  "eelings"  as  usual, 
and  found  the  shop  crowded  with  customers;  in  especial 
we  noticed  the  prettiest  little  China  woman  imaginable, 
dressed  in  dark  blue  silk  trousers  and  a  purple  silk  sack, 
her  long  hair  braided  with  scarlet  ribbons,  and  wearing 
rich  bracelets,  and  ear-rings  of  green  stones  heavily  set  in 
gold.  Her  expression  was  marvellously  sweet,  and  her 


214  A   CHINESE  BEAUTY. 

complexion  a  wonderfully  clear  golden  white  with  a  faint 
pretty  color  in  the  cheeks.  She  spoke  110  English,  but 
our  little  high  caste  Lee  Yip  informed  us  that  she  was 
"mallied,"  and  indicated  a  fat  aquiline-nosed  disagree 
able  old  fellow  as  the  husband,  although  both  his  own 
expression  and  the  giggling  of  the  spectators  gave  us  a 
most  uncomfortable  sensation  of  being  hoaxed.  AVe  in 
vited  her  to  sit  for  a  picture,  and  for  reply  she  tried  to 
run  out  of  the  shop,  but  being  caught  and  brought  back, 
she  finally  submitted  with  a  good  grace,  and  sat  still  while 
a  pretty  little  picture  was  made  of  her,  the  "  husband  " 
and  a  crowd  of  friends  looking  on,  laughing  and  criticis 
ing,  in  Chinese. 

Lee  Yip  gave  us  his  autograph,  and  he  and  the  rest 
amused  themselves  by  examining  our  jewels  and  the  young 
lady's  purse,  which  they  opened,  discussed  and  handed  it 
round,  finally  returning  it  with  the  contents  intact.  From 
this  favorite  haunt  we  wandered  away  through  several 
little  dark  alleys,  seeing  the  dirt  we  had  only  smelt  during 
our  evening  expedition.  The  sidewalks  are  only  wide 
enough  for  one  person  to  pass  at  a  time,  and  the  doors  of 
the  houses  open  directly  upon  them,  and  as  each  door  is 
provided  with  a  sliding  panel  at  the  height  of  a  man's 
head,  one  cannot  fail  to  get  a  pretty  clear  idea  of  the 
'internal  economy  of  the  houses ;  in  many,  however,  the 
view  was  obstructed  by  a  female  face  highly  decorated, 
perfumed,  and  painted,  looking  out  as  earnestly  as  we  were 
looking  in  ;  over  many  of  these  panel-windows  a  bunch 
of  joss-sticks,  or  some  red  and  gold  paper  were  slowly 
burning  away,  probably  on  the  horse-shoe  principle, 


THE  FRENCH  QUARTER.  215 

although  I  fear  quite  as  much  evil  dwelt  within  as  could 
approach  from  without. 

In  one  of  these  alleys  we  passed  a  doctor's  office,  with 
two  great  paper  signs  on  rollers  outside  the  door,  covered 
with  illustrations  of  the  most  hideous  forms  of  disease 
depicted  in  the  reddest  possible  paint,  and  a  great  deal  of 
it.  Also  we  saw  a  poulterer's  shop,  with  hundreds  of 
bamboo  cages  of  live  hens  and  pigeons.  Near  the  Bureau 
of,  Emigration  we  again  met  a  throng  of  newly-landed 
emigrants  with  umbrella-shaped  hats  and  great  bundles 
and  bales  done  up  with  straw-ropes.  They  were  all  chat 
tering  like  magpies,  and  stared  and  laughed  at  us  even 
more  boldly  than  we  did  at  them. 

Just  back  of  China  Town  is  the  French  quarter,  and 
we  coyly  promenaded  through  two  or  three  streets  of 
little  one  and  two-storied  houses,  consisting,  as  the  open 
window  assured  us,  of  little  more  than  a  front-parlor,  and 
a  bed-room  behind,  some  of  them  elegantly  furnished. 
The  half -doors  are  finished  with  a  little  cushioned  ledge 
at  the  top,  where  the  occupant  may  stand  and  lean  with 
folded  arms  to  enjoy  the  outer  scenery  when  so  disposed, 
while  a  little  silver  plate  below  is  engraved  with  her 
Christian  name  only;  a  glass  door  within  is  decorated 
with  lace-curtains  and  the  air  of  the  whole  is  prettier  and 
more  graceful  than  the  Chinese  houses.  There  are,  how 
ever,  no  joss-sticks  or  gilt  paper  above  the  doors,  no  amu 
lets  or  charms,  alas !  to  avert  the  evil  that  stalks  boldly 
through  all  these  quarters  of  the  town. 

In  one  of  these  last  days,  Mayor  Bryant  invited  us  for 
a  parting  drive  behind  his  elegant  four-in-hand  team. 


216  A   LUNCH  WITH  THE  MA  YOU. 

We  went  to  Oakland  a,  which  rather  disappointed  us,  being 
more  city-like  and  less  rurally  beautiful  than  we  had 
anticipated,  but  passing  through  the  city  we  wound  up 
into  the  hills,  between  high  wooden  slopes  and  constantly 
catching  glimpses  of  the  bay  and  the  Golden  Gate.  We 
passed  several  ranches,  and  some  green  meadows  com 
pletely  perforated  with  the  burrows  of  the  gray  and  brown 
ground-squirrels,  who  scampered  about  quite  tame  and 
undismayed. 

Live-oak  and  chaparral  were  abundant,  but  every 
thing  looked  brown  and  dusty  until  we  reached  the 
Mayor's  own  grounds,  where  care  and  irrigation  will  soon 
make  a  paradise  around  the  pretty  cottage  which  he  has 
recently  purchased  as  a  summer  home.  Everything  looked 
green  and  smiling,  plenty  of  roses  and  other  flowers, 
a  rustic  bridge,  and  a  little  summer-house,  all  home-like 
and  rural. 

We  lunched  in  a  pleasant  company,  and  then  walked 
tip  the  hill  behind  the  house  to  see  the  trout  artificially 
hatched  in  a  pool  and  brook,  manufactured  for  them,  as 
nearly  as  possible,  on  the  model  of  their  native  New 
Hampshire  streams ;  after  this  we  visited  the  stables  and 
horses,  of  which  the  Mayor  is  justly  proud,  sat  in  the 
cosy  little  house  with  Mrs.  Bryant  and  her  other  guests, 
and  then  enjoyed  one  of  the  fastest  of  fast  drives  home 
in  the  purple  twilight,  and  devoted  the  evening  to  the 
painful  task  of  packing. 

The  next  day  we  made  a  sorrowful  promenade  through 
some  of  our  favorite  haunts;  we  liked  the  steep  hills 
which  slope  up  and  down  from  Kearney  Street,  with  its 


PERIPA  TETIC  PL  0  WER  STANDS. 


217 


macadamized  side-walks  and  cobble-stone  pavements,  the 
background  of  the  brown  foot-hills  circling  the  town,  and 
the  heights  crowned  with  the  ambitious  homes  of  rival 
capitalists,  which  a  vivid  imagination  can  readily  convert 
into  castles ;  one  of  the  characteristic  sights,  and  a  very 
pretty  one,  are  the  flowerstands  enclosed  in  glass  and 
mounted  on  wheels  filled  with  bouquets  for  sale. 

Then  the  fascination  of  climbing  Sacramento  or  Wash 
ington  Streets  and  finding  one's  self  in  that  swarm  of 
Chinese  is  one  that  never  wears  out  for  us,  and  were  it  not 
for  wearying  the  reader,  we  could  go  through  unnum 
bered  pages  describing  the  quaint,  queer,  outlandish 
sights  and  people,  whom  nobody  comprehends,  and  who, 
while  we  arrogantly  try  to  civilize  and  Christianize  them 
by  our  own  standard,  complacently  seat  themselves  upon 
the  heights  of  their  own  civilization,  their  own  religion, 
and  consider  us  as  outside  barbarians  whom  it  is  not  worth 
their  while  to  convince  of  error  and  ignorance. 


r~**-'^xS&*&--i?~^~, 


mma*       urn        \\  \\v/y 

ON  THE  ROAD  TO  THE  "Bio  TKEES."    Page  i>43. 


CHAPTER  XXV, 

A     LODGE     IN     A     VAST     WILDERNESS. 

AT  three  in  the  afternoon  we  said  good-by  to  the 
Palace  Hotel,  and  laden  with  flowers  and  pleasant 
adienx,  and  friendly  wishes  from  a  host  of  new-made,  but 
not  soon-to-be-forgotten  friends,  we  embarked  upon  the 
Oaklands  ferry-boat,  and  when  well  off  discovered  that  a 
large  portion  of  our  luggage  was  left  behind,  and  still  ru 
minating  on  this  disaster,  took  train  for  Merced,  at  which 
place  we  arrived  at  ten  at  night  and  were  welcomed  by 
Senator  Gonover  and  his  party,  whom  we  had  arranged  to 
meet  at  this  point. 

In  spite  of  a  driving  shower  we  sallied  forth  to  visit 
the  lions  of  the  place,  the  principal  of  which  seemed  to  be 
the  Cosmopolitan  Saloon,  large  billiard  and  refreshment 
rooms  handsomely  furnished  in  native  woods,  gorgeously 
fitted  up  and  said  to  be  the  finest  establishment  of  the  kind 
in  California;  its  attractions  for  us,  however,  were  soon 
exhausted,  and  we  were  all  glad  to  return  to  our  hotel  for 
rest  and  sleep. 

Seen  by  the  gray  light  of  early  dawn  next  morning 
Merced  showed  itself  a  flat,  straggling,  dismal  town 
enough,  planted  in  the  midst  of  a  bare  and  level  plain, 
destitute  of  trees,  or  verdure,  or  anything  to  be  called 
scenery,  unless  the  white  sails  of  numberless  windmills 


IN  THE   WAKE  OF  LOCUSTS.  219 

may  be  so  called.  The  hotel  is  large  and  commodious 
and  quite  an  important  point  of  junction  for  various  lines 
of  roads  and  coaches. 

The  great  entrance  hall  was  piled  with  luggage  and 
crowded  with  travellers  each  intent  upon  his  own  especial 
box,  his  own  especial  route,  and  his  own  especial  comfort. 
One  of  our  party  was  quite  amused  by  a  conversation  re 
hearsed  in  this  hall  where  an  angry  gentleman,  disappointed 
in  obtaining  places  in  a  coach  secured  entirely  for  our 
selves,  exclaimed :  "  Now  that  is  what  I  call  too  bad,  too 

mean,  if  we  have  got  to  travel  to  the  Yosemite  in  the 

wake  of  that  Leslie  party !  We  were  behind  them  all  the 
way  to  the  Geysers  and  back,  and  it  was  like  travelling  in 
the  wake  of  a  swarm  of  seven-year  locusts.  Not  a  car 
riage,  not  a  house,  not  a  bed,  not  a  guide,  not  a  decent 
dinner  to  be  had  anywhere,  '  they  had  all  been  engaged 
or  gone  with  or  devoured  by  Mr.  Leslie's  party,'  was  the 
universal  cry,  until  I  was  sick  of  the  name  and  now  we 
are  going  to  have  it  all  over  again,  it  seems." 

In  spite  of  the  lamentations  of  this  modern  Jeremiah, 
however,  the  best  coach  was  soon  laden  with  as  many  of 
us  as  it  would  hold,  and  the  second  best  nearly  filled  with 
the  remainder  of  the  party,  and  we  all  drove  cheerfully 
out  of  Merced,  perfectly  content  with  the  dispensations  of 
Providence,  and  wishing  that  everybody  else  was  so  also. 
In  the  suburbs  of  Merced  we  saw  in  some  of  the  barn 
yards  a  kind  of  plough  peculiar  to  this  region,  having  ten 
or  a  dozen  blades  or  plough-shares,  and  intended  to  be 
drawn  by  as  many  horses.  Except  for  this  contrivance  it 
would  be  impossible  to  cultivate  these  immense  fields, 


220  TOO  LITTLE  RAIN  AND  TOO  MUCH. 

hundreds  of  acres  in  extent.  The  road  was  fine,  hard  as  a 
floor,  and  perfectly  level,  but  scarcely  distinguishable  in 
color  from  the  barren  plains  stretching  away  from  it  on 
either  hand,  brown,  bare,  and  dry.  Far  more  desolate,  to 
our  mind,  than  the  Great  Plains.  There  had  been  so 
little  rain  here  during  the  past  winter  that  vegetation  had 
nearly  died  out,  and  the  only  green  things  to  be  seen  were 
some  stunted  willows  growing  beside  a  dried  up  river-bed. 

On  these  plains  we  saw  the  first  jack-rabbits,  as  large 
as  a  great  cat  or  small  dog,  who  sat  upon  their  haunches 
to  contemplate  the  coach  as  it  went  by,  and  hardly  seemed 
at  all  alarmed  ;  we  also  saw  gophirs  and  ground-squirrels 
playing  around  their  burrows,  and  an  occasional  reed- 
heron  whirring  up  from  among  the  willows.  We  drove 
for  miles  over  this  weary  and  desolate  plain  with  no  sign 
of  human  life  except  a  packtrain,  two  wagons  hitched 
together  and  a  string  of  mules.  As  our  course  began  to 
tend  toward  the  hills  we  passed  ranges  of  buttes  looking 
like  breastworks,  with  arches  hollowed  in  them  as  if  made 
by  man ;  sharp,  splintery  slabs  of  stone  cropped  out  here 
and  there,  looking  like  tombstones,  crested  over  with 
bright  orange  and  crimson  lichens,  and  the  whole  surface 
of  the  country  became  more  broken  and  rugged. 

As  we  entered  the  more  hilly  region  the  thunder 
clouds  gathered,  a  fiash  of  vivid  lightning  nearly  blinded 
us,  and,  contrary  to  all  California  precedent,  the  rain  de 
scended  in  a  sudden  flood  just  as  we  drew  up  at  the  first 
station  where  we  were  to  change  horses.  It  was  a  very 
Bret  Harte-ish  little  place,  consisting  of  a  narrow  street 
of  wooden  shanties,  a  bar-room,  a  few  shade  trees,  and  a 


BOOT- JACK  HOLLOW.  221 

corral  with  some  frisky  horses  plunging  about  inside ; 
these,  with  a  few  wild-looking  men  and  a  swarm  of 
children,  seemed  to  make  up  the  population  of  Indian 
Gulch,  where  we  stayed  but  a  few  moments,  and  dashed 
on  with  the  fresh  team,  into  a  more~  wooded  and  moun 
tainous  country  than  we  had  yet  seen  to  Bootjack  Hollow, 
eighteen  miles  distant,  and  finally  reached  Mariposa 
about  noon. 

It  is  a  pretty  place  in  itself,  with  a  wild  rolling 
country  and  wooded  hills  as  a  back  ground,  but  like  so 
many  places  in  the  West,  its  days  of  life  and  prosperity 
are  over,  the  mining  interest  being  in  the  hands  of  a  few 
Chinamen,  who  "pan  out"  about  a  dollar  a  day. 

We  dined  excellently  well  at  Callisoii's,  a  tidy  house, 
kept  by  a  Pennsylvania  woman  who  has  lived  in  Mari 
posa  for  eighteen  years;  she  amused  us  very  much  by 
her  candid  style  of  conversation,  and  in  especial  by  her 
persistent  inquiries  as  to  which  lady  was  the  wife  of  the 
chief  of  our  party,  hazarding  various  ludicrous  guesses, 
and  coming  to  the  right  one  last  of  all.  Having  estab 
lished  the  identity,  she  warmly  grasped  both  hands  and 
shook  them  heartily,  exclaiming : 

"  Well,  now,  is  this  really  Mrs.  L. !  I've  read  lots  of 
your  writings,  and  there's  nobody  I  wanted  to  see  so 
much  as  you  and  Theodore  Tilton ! "  But  why  this 
remarkable  collocation  she  did  not*  explain  nor  we  in 
quire. 

The  rain  was  over,  but  the  sky  was  dark  and  lowering 
as  we  set  forth  for  the  long  stretch  of  our  last  stage, 
including  the  ascent  of  the  Sierras,  and  descent  to  Big 


222  TWO  HOUSES  AND  A    WATERING-TROUGH. 

Tree  Station,  where  we  were  to  pass  the  night.  The 
road  lay  along  the  bed  of  the  old  Fremont  lead,  filled 
with  broken  rocks,  washed  bare  by  placer  mining,  and 
the  soil  seamed  with  little  trenches  for  leading  the  water 
in  every  direction. 

A  ruined  bridge  once  spanning  the  gulley,  and  an 
abandoned  flume  running  along  one  of  the  steep  banks, 
gave  the  place  a  wild  and  picturesque  interest,  culminat 
ing  at  Mormon  Bar,  where  we  turned  off  from  the  old 
"  lead,"  and  passing  the  row  of  tottering  cabins,  crowding 
and  elbowing  each  other  along  the  gulley,  took  the  wind 
ing  up-hill  track,  which  brought  us  presently  into  a  pine 
forest,  through  which  we  wound,  catching  occasional 
glimpses  of  the  Merced  Valley  behind  us,  vast,  desolate, 
and  wild,  while  before  us  lay  the  level  crest-line  of  the 
Sierras,  dark,  gloomy,  and  snow-clad. 

About  three  o'clock  the  rain  came  down  again  in  a 
cold  drizzle,  then  in  a  steady  pour,  beneath  which  the 
picturesque  was  forgotten,  the  front  seat  abandoned,  um 
brellas  went  up  and  w.aps  went  on,  and  every  one  de 
voted  him  or  herself  to  the  futile  effort  of  keeping  either 
dry  or  warm. 

The  road  grew  slippery  and  painful  for  the  animals, 
and  finally,  when  at  five  o'clock  we  stopped  to  change 
horses  at  Cold-Spring  Station,  a  settlement  of  two  houses 
and  a  watering-trough,  Hiram,  our  driver,  suggested  the 
expediency  of  spending  the  night  there,  representing 
that  we  were  just  at  the  foot  of  the  ridge  between  us  and 
Big  Tree  Station,  and  confessing  himself  very  reluctant 


A  NOVEL  EXPERIENCE.  223 

to  undertake  it  after  dark  in  this  condition  of  the  roads 
and  the  weather. 

It  was  already  dusk,  the  forward  route  looked  dismal 
and  forbidding,  and  a  ruddy  gleam  of  fire-light  shot 
through  the  window  of  the  little  cabin,  half  posting-house, 
half  grocery-shop,  before  whose  open  door  we  sat.  The 
prospect  of  light,  warmth,  and  rest,  was  too  inviting  to  be 
resisted,  and  with  one  accord  we  dismounted  from  our 
dripping  chariot,  and  entered  the  cabin  en  masse. 

It  consisted  of  only  three  rooms,  the  first  and  largest 
fitted  up  with  a  counter,  and  the  flickering  light  from  the 
fire  glimmered  upon  raftered  ceiling,  un plastered  walls, 
bare  floor,  two  or  three  rickety  chairs,  and  a  table  upon 
which  stood  a  single  dip  candle.  An  open  door  revealed 
a  little  kitchen  in  which  another  fire  was  blazing.  Over 
this  door  a  shelf  crammed  with  old  newspapers  testified 
to  the  literary  tastes  of  the  family,  consisting  of  two 
women,  two  tiny  boys,  and  a  baby,  now  in  arms,  but 
whose  permanent  resting-place  was  a  queer  high-posted 
crib  covered  with  mosquito-netting,  and  occupying  a 
prominent  place  in  the  shop.  On  one  side  of  the  room 
some  trunks  were  arranged  for  a  settee,  and  on  shelves 
behind  the  counter  were  piled  the  heterogeneous  contents 
of  a  country  grocer's  shop.  On  the  floor  at  one  end  la^  a- 
heap  of  bags  of  flour  and  salt,  and  on  these  poor  little 
Follette  took  refuge  from  the  damp  and  dirt  of  the  floor, 
her  depressed  tail,  an  unerring  thermometer  of  her  spirits, 
and  general  meekness  of  appearance,  eloquently  testify 
ing  to  her  appreciation  of  the  situation. 

We  clustered  around  the  fire,  drying  ourselves  and  our 


224  ONE  BED  FOR  SIXTEEN". 

garments  as  best  we  might,  the  ladies  alternately  occupy 
ing  the  three  chairs,  while  the  gentlemen  assisted  at  the 
driver's  survey  of  the  weather,  the  road,  and  the  possibili 
ties  of  the  future.  The  report  was  unfavorable,  Hiram 
averring  that  the  storm  was  increasing,  the  darkness 
deepening,  and  the  narrow  road-bed  would  be  washed 
into  impassable  gullies  before  midnight.  Under  these  cir 
cumstances  there  seemed  to  be  no  choice,  and  the  mistress 
of  the  house  being  called  to  council,  concluded,  with  the 
aid  of  Minerva,  her  "help,"  that  she  could  both  lodge 
and  feed  us,  "  after  a  fashion."  The  fashion  proved  a 
new  one,  if  not  likely  to  become  a  favorite  one. 

The  house  boasted  three  beds.  One  of  these  the 
hostess,  with  Minerva  and  her  baby,  reserved  for  herself. 
The  second,  a  trundle  bed,  was  devoted  to  her  own  chil 
dren  and  Senator  Conover's  little  son,  and  the  third  she 
placed  at  the  disposal  of  her  sixteen  guests  ! 

The  women  were  hospitable  and  well-meaning,  but 
one  found  enough  to  do  in  supplying  the  fires  with  fuel, 
and  the  baby  was  like  the  cherubims  and  seraphims  who 
"  continually  do  cry,"  and  required  all  the  attention  of 
the  mother,  so  that  no  preparations  of  any  consequence 
seemed  likely  or  possible  for  the  appeasing  of  the  clamor 
ous  hanger  which  asserted  itself  in  every  breast. 

The  forlornness  of  everything  was  beyond  words,  and 
reminded  me  of  a  lifelike  picture  which  in  sympathetic 
childhood  excited  my  most  poignant  grief  by  its  representa 
tion  of  poor  Marie  Antoinette,  her  children,  and  her  lump 
of  a  husband  in  the  grocer's  shop  at  Yarennes,  surrounded 
by  articles  of  commerce  much  like  those  we  contemplated, 


AN  IMPROMPTU  SUPPER.  225 

and  by  the  rude  and  exultant  family  of  the  grocer 
and  the  municipal  soldiery.  True,  that  this  being  a  re 
public,  there  were  half-a-dozen  queens  instead  of  one,  and 
true,  that  nobody  was  exultant  or  insolent ;  but  still — at 
this  point  of  comparison  my  reverie-  was  broken  by  the 
hostess,  who,  probably  fancying  from  my  dejected  attitude 
and  utter  silence  that  I  was  the  meekest  of  the  party, 
thrust  the  baby  into  my  arms,  exclaiming :  "  Here,  you 
hold  bub,  and  I'll  get  a  meal  of  victuals ! " 

The  shock  roused  me,  and  I  mentally  rose  to  the  occa 
sion.  What  a  pity  that  there  was  nobody  to  thrust  a  baby 
into  Napoleon's  arms  at  Waterloo !  He  would  have 
invented  a  victory. 

Retreating  a  pace  from  the  offered  burden,  I  hastily 
replied  :  "  No ;  you  hold  the  baby,  and  I  will  get  the  sup 
per  ! "  A  derisive  shout  from  those  best  acquainted  with 
my  abilities  bespoke  their  appreciation,  and  even  Follette 
whined  feebly,  as  if  resigning  her  hopes  of  sustenance  ; 
but,  nothing  daunted,  I  sternly  ordered  her  to  remain 
quiet  upon  her  briny  couch,  then  dragging  forth  a  table, 
spread  some  sort  of  cloth  upon  it,  confiscated  a  quantity 
of  delf  displayed  upon  the  shelves  for  sale,  struck  a  hasty 
bargain  for  some  canned  oysters,  sardines,  and  peaches, 
set  the  gentlemen  to  work  in  opening  them,  found  a 
saucepan,  and  filling  it  with  oysters,  put  it  in  charge  of 
the  Chief,  of  whom  yachting  experiences  had  made  a 
tolerable  cook,  and  made  requisitions  upon  Minerva  for 
butter,  milk,  and  bread. 

The  staff  of  life  proved  but  a  broken  reed  in  this 
instance,  bein^  small  in  quantity  and  largely  compounded 


226  A  TREASURE  TROVE. 

of  pearl-ash,  but  the  hostess  produced  a  "  kag  "  of  crack 
ers  from  under  the  counter,  and  some  enterprising  ex 
plorer  wildly  announced  a  "  treasure  trove  " — not  of  our 
favorite  Pomery  Sec,  it  is  true — but  bottled  ale  and  a  jug  of 
whiskey.  With  these  materials  and  plenty  of  zealous,  if  not 
very  experienced  help,  the  commissary,  as  she  was  dubbed, 
soon  produced  a  composite  and  harmless  meal,  which  was 
presently  eaten,  amid  much  noise  and  mirth,  after  the 
fashion  of  the  Israelitish  Passover,  all  standing  and  ready 
for  a  journey,  *a  mode  selected  not  for  traditional,  but  very 
practical  reasons,  it  being  impossible  for  sixteen  persons, 
however  affectionate,  to  sit,  all  at  once,  upon  three  chairs  ! 

Empty  bottles  did  service  for  candle-sticks,  and  the 
winter's  supply  of  dips  were  merrily  consumed  by  light 
ing  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  tlingy  little  place. 

Supper  over,  some  daring  Bouls  raised  the  question  of 
sleeping  accommodations,  but,  catching  the  blank  and  be 
wildered  expression  upon  the  faces  of  their  less  practical 
and  more  imaginative  friends,  dropped  it  for  awhile,  and 
while  one  little  knot  fell  into  vehement  discussion  of  Tann- 
hauser  and  Wagner  generally,  some  of  the  rest  strayed 
out  into  tha  kitchen  to  watch  Minerva  wash  the  dishes, 
an  operation  in  which  she  was  helped  or  hindered  by  a 
Mexican  Indian  called  George.  He  knew  very  little 
English,  and  quite  brightened  up  when  our  Cuban  friend 
and  myself  spoke  to  him  in  Spanish,  which  was  his  ver 
nacular  ;  he  had  just  come  from  Kansas,  and  was  "  staying 
along"  with  our  hostess,  an  Englishwoman,  who  came 
here  five  years  before,  and  engaged  in  mining  interests 
and  trade. 


SLEEP   UNDER  DIFFICULTIES.  227 

But  at  ten  o'clock  the  question  of  repose  could  no 
longer  be  deferred,  and  the  whole  female  intellect  of  the 
place  being"  brought  to  bear,  it  was  decided  that  three 

1  c?  O  ' 

ladies  should  take  the  one  bed  recommended  by  the  hos 
tess,  with  the  nai've  remark  that :  u  As  only  me  and  baby 
had  slept  there,  it  wouldn't  be  worth  while  to  change  the 
sheets ! " 

Hearing  this,  the  three  looked  at  each  other,  and  then 
assuming  a  mien  mingled  of  Joan  of  Arc,  Iphigenia, 
and  Charlotte  Oorday,  they  wrapped  themselves  in  shawls 
and  lay  across  the  couch  without  disturbing  its  coverings. 
The  pretty  widow  posed  in  a  rocker  tilted  back,  with  her 
feet  in  another  chair,  and  a  blue  and  scarlet  silken  ker 
chief  wound,  gypsy  fashion,  around  her  waving  golden 
locks,  making  a  picture  which  I  contemplated  with  great 
satisfaction  by  the  nickering  fire-light  during  a  large  por 
tion  of  the  night,  for  I  had  become  so  in  love  with  the 
table  I  had  laid  for  supper  as  to  select  it  for  my  resting 
place,  pillowing  my  head  upon  a  bag  of  salt,  which  to 
wards  morning  fell  upon  the  bare  floor  with  such  a  thud 
that  I  was  sure  it  must  be  myself. 

Tw0  of  the  gentlemen  stretched  themselves  upon  the 
counter,  one  perched  upon  the  trunks,  several  lay  in  a 
layer  in  a  lair  of  straw  upon  the  floor,  and  some  youthful 
and  enthusiastic  spirits  thought  it  fine  to  sit  all  night  by 
the  kitchen  fire  telling  stories  and  asking  melancholy 
conundrums. 

The  hostess  and  Minerva  retired  to  their  own  little 
den,  and  as  it  was  only  divided  from  the  shop  by  a 
shrunken  board  partition,  we  were  edified  by  a  loud  al- 


228  A    WIDOWER  AND  A    WAIST. 

tercation  as  to  the  propriety  of  the  latter's  drinking  any 
more  beer. 

The  rain  fell  in  torrents,  cold  gusts  of  air  blew  shrilly 
through  the  ill-jointed  walls,  the  lock  of  the  outer  door 
was  broken,  and  we  had  heard  horrible  tales  of  a  gang  of 
thieves  and  murderers  pervading  this  vicinity.  These 
items,  combined  with  the  peculiarity  of  breathing,  not  to 
use  a  stronger  term,  of  several  members  of  the  party, 
thoroughly  banished  sleep  from  most  of  our  eyes,  that  is, 
of  the  weaker  sex,  for  I  believe  it  is  conceded  that  a 
tired  man  can  sleep  anywhere  and  anyhow. 

The  beau  of  the  party  occupied  himself  during  a  large 
part  of  the  night  in  keeping  the  fire  alive,  or  we  should 
certainly  all  have  frozen,  and  when  in  the  early  morning 
the  comfortless  couches  were  abandoned,  and  the  pallid, 
sleepy,  unkempt  occupants  looked  the  situation,  them 
selves,  and  each  other  in  the  face,  a  more  dejected  party 
of  pleasure-seekers  cannot  be  imagined;  to  divert  our 
misery  we  saw  that  the  rain  still  fell  in  torrents,  we  felt 
that  the  cold  was  biting,  and  we  presumed  that  breakfast 
was  to  consist  of  only  the  remains  of  last  night's  supper. 

A  small  diversion  to  the  gloom  was  caused  by  the 
young  lady  of  the  party,  who  had  hung  some  of  her  gar 
ments  to  dry  beside  the  kitchen  fire,  and  now  found  a 
difficulty  in  collecting  them,  all  finally  were  recovered, 
however,  except  a  basque,  of  which  no  account  could  be 
obtained  until  a  susceptible  and  romantic  widower  of  the 
party  emerged  from  the  straw  with  it  gracefully  draped 
about  his  head  to  protect  it  from  the  draught  inhabiting 
his  corner.  He  acknowledged  that  the  sleeves,  with  their 


<  TO  THE  MANNER  BORN.  229 

pendant  cuffs,  buttons,  and  pins,  had  rather  disturbed  his 
slumbers,  and  plaintively  remarked  that  he  didn't  know 
how  a  crown  would  feel  as  a  night-cap,  but  he  could  now 
testify  from  experience  that  "  weary  rests  the  head  that 
wears  " — a  woman's  basque  waist. 

I  found  myself  far  too  dejected  to  offer  any  help  in 
getting  breakfast,  and  was  in  fact  so  crushed  that  I  think 
if  the  hostess  had  insisted  upon  my  holding  the  baby  she 
would  now  have  found  a  submissive  and  passive  victim. 
With  matters  in  this  condition  we  were  startled  by  the 
abrupt  entrance  of  several  men  of  rough  exterior,  but 
whom  we  presumed  to  be  "  to  the  manner  born,"  by  the 
directness  with  which  they  made  for  the  whiskey  jug  hid 
den  beneath  the  counter.  They  were  in  fact  members  of 
the  family  detained  from  home  by  the  storrn  and  now  re 
turning  with  materials  for  a  savory  breakfast,  upon  which 
we  at  once  pounced,  they  sitting  by  while  we  consumed  it, 
and  entertaining  us  with  a  little  history  of  their  estate  or 
rancho. 

It  was  formerly  owned,  it  seems,  by  a  party  called  A., 
who  gave  a  piece  of  his  land  to  his  friend  C.,  who  built  a 
cabin  upon  it,  but  subsequently  went  farther  up  the  hills, 
seized  upon  another  piece  of  A.'s  land  and  built  another 
cabin.  A.  considering  this  an  abuse  of  good-nature,  tried 
to  turn  him  out,  but  unsuccessfully,  and  the  quarrel  be 
came  so  bitter  that  A.  swore  to  have  C.'s  life.  One  night 
both  men  were  drinking  in  the  bar-room  of  A.'s  rancho — 
the  very  room  where  we  then  sat  at  breakfast — and  the 
quarrel  running  very  high,  when  A.  got  up  and  went  be 
hind  the  counter  for  something ;  C.,  supposing  that  it  was 


230  A  MURDER  AND  ARREST. 

a  pistol,  and  following  in  blind  fury,  stabbed  him  to  the 
heart.  C.  was  arrested  and  sent  to  the  Penitentiary  for 
two  years,  and  when  liberated  did  not  return  to  this  neigh 
borhood  ;  his  widow  still  lives  in  the  other  house  of  the 
settlement. 

This  cheerful  tale  did  not  lessen  our  willingness  to  leave 
the  locality,  and  about  eight  o'clock,  as  the  rain  had  ceased 
for  awhile,  the  stage- wagons  were  got  out,  and  after  pay 
ing  for  our  accommodations  a  price  sufficient  to  hire  an 
Italian  palace  for  a  year,  we  embarked  and  began  our 
five-mile  ascent  of  the  Sierras.  It  was  slow  and  dismal 
work,  and  the  poor  horses  evidently  did  not  see  the  sense 
of  it,  but  we  got  on,  and  by  and  by  met  two  return  stages, 
whose  drivers  reported  three  feet  of  snow  higher  up.  We 
soon  came  upon  wreaths  and  little  drifts  of  it  beside  the 
road,  and  a  fine  drizzling  rain  again  beset  us. 

In  spite  of  all,  however,  we  could  not  but  enjoy  the 
scenery,  the  great  sugar-pines  with  their  monstrous  cones, 
occasional  red- woods,  and  gaunt  shapes  of  great  trees,  with 
their  hearts  burned  out  by  the  Indians,  or  herdsmen,  or  bush- 
burners.  Over  everything,  dead  and  decayed,  the  yellow 
Yosemite  moss  began  to  appear,  creeping  in  parallel  lines 
up  the  trunks  of  the  trees,  and  clothing  the  dry  branches 
with  a  sunset  glow.  We  passed  the  cabins  of  the  Chinese 
road-menders,  and  some  ruined  huts  forlornly  picturesque, 
and  once  we  saw  an  Indian,  wrapped  in  his  blanket,  glid 
ing  between  the  ranks  of  black-green  pines  and  never 
deigning  to  turn  his  head  towards  us. 

The  snow  grew  deeper,  the  cold  was  intense,  the  rain 
heavier,  and  the  romance  of  travel  less  and  less  perceptible 


THE  MERCED  RIVER. 


231 


in  spite  of  occasional  glimpses  of  valley  scenery  behind, 
and  the  summits  of  frowning  Sierras  piercing  the  clouds 
in  front.  About  noon  we  crossed  the  summit,  and  began 
to  make  better  time  upon  the  downward  course,  striking 
the  Merced  River,  a  clear,  foaming  stream  rushing  through 

7  7  o  SO 

a  channel  reminding  one  of  the  granite  beds  of  the  New 
Hampshire  streams.  A  mile  from  Big  Tree  Station  we 
crossed  a  covered  bridge,  whose  rattling  echoes,  as  a  team 
crosses,  can  be  plainly  heard  in  the  settlement,  and  finally 
about  two  o'clock  drove  up  to  the  Big  Tree  Hotel  and 
joyfully  dismounted. 


EN  ROUTE  FOR  THE  YOSEMITE.    Page  219. 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

THE     YOSEMITE     VALLEY. 

hotel  at  Big  Tree  Station  is  a  building  of  the  com- 
JL  posite,  or  rather,  detached  style  of  architecture,  the 
parlors  and  dining-room  occupying  one  building  and  the 
bed-rooms  others  at  some  little  distance — a  matter  of  im 
portance  in  such  a  rain  as  welcomed  us  to  our  resting- 
place.  There  were  some  straggling  barns,  corrals,  etc., 
with  a  background  of  tall  slender  pines  merging  into  the 
dense  mountain  forest  behind. 

It  rained  incessantly  all  the  afternoon,  so  that  we  de 
ferred  our  visit  to  the  Big  Trees  until  our  return,  and  con 
tented  ourselves  with  sitting  on  the  piazza  and  watching 
the  Mexican  herdsmen,  in  their  big  blue  army  cloaks  and 
picturesque  sombreros,  and  the  Indians  in  ragged  shirts 
and  pantaloons,  with  their  shaggy  hair  falling  over  their 
faces  and  shoulders. 

A  flock  of  four  thousand  sheep  were  driven  into  a 
corral  near  the  stables  that  afternoon  to  be  separated  ac 
cording  to  their  brands,  and  sent  out  in  several  directions. 
Among  the  lookers-on  was  a  fine,  handsome  old  Mexican, 
who  officiates  as  bootblack  at  the  hotel,  reminding  one  of 
King  Alfred  and  the  oat-cakes,  although  Esteban  does  not 
forget  his  work  in  dreams  of  former  grandeur,  but  blacks 
shoes  as  if  Montezuma  had  never  been  his  ancestor.  We 


A  PERIPATETIC  COBBLER. 


EL  UAPITAN,  KING   OF  THE   VALLEY.  233 

talked  Spanish  to  him  while  he  was  being  sketched,  and 
were  amused  at  his  persisting  in  addressing  me  as  Senorita, 
even  while  removing  Mr.  L.'s  boots  from  my  chamber 
door. 

At  half-past  six  next  morning  we  started  for  the  valley, 
driving  along  the  south  fork  of  the  Merced  up  a  steep  and 
narrow  road,  winding  almost  as  much  as  that  at  the  Gey 
sers,  with  a  magnificent  sweep  of  mountain-side  opposite, 
at  least  two  thousand  feet  in  height,  and  clothed  thick 
with  pines  crowding  down  to  the  brink  of  the  little  green 
brawling  river  below.  At  Lookout  Point  the  road  makes 
a  sharp  narrow  curve,  and  there  is  a  magnificent  view 
down  the  calion  and  the  valley  beyond  to  where  the  crowd 
ing  peaks  of  the  Sierras  fade  away  into  the  pale  blue 
horizon. 

Flocks  of  sheep  dot  the  landscape  here  and  there,  and 
the  woods  are  full  of  deer,  wild-cats,  California  lions,  and 
grizzly  bears,  one  of  which  appeared  in  the  road  a  few 
days  before  our  visit,  and  frightened  the  horses  half  to 
death.  It  grew  cloudy  and  cold  just  before  we  reached 
the  valley,  and  we  were  afraid  the  views  would  be  ob 
scured.  We  were  still  discussing  our  fears  and  hopes, 
and  had  no  idea  that  their  end  was  at  hand,  when  a  flash 
of  snowy  white  struck  through  the  trees,  and  then  a  sud 
den  curve  of  the  road  showed  us  a  great  white  gleaming 
wall  reaching  to  the  clouds — a  mountain  of  ivory,  as  it 
looked,  with  a  streak  of  bright  water  flashing  down  at  the 
side. 

It  was  El  Capitan,  the  King  of  the  Yalley,  the  mon 
arch  for  whose  sake  it  would  be  worth  while  to  make  the 


234  INSPIRATION  POINT. 

long  journey,  if  there  were  nothing  else  to  see.  El  Capi- 
tan  is  not  a  peak  or  a  summit,  hardly  to  be  called  a 
mountain,  but  rather,  as  we  have  called  it,  a  wall,  two 
miles  in  length,  3,300  feet  in  height,  white  as  ivory  and 
of  a  grandeur,  majesty,  and  power  of  expression  incon 
ceivable  to  one  who  has  not  seen  and  felt  its  influence. 

As  we  first  saw  it  with  the  clouds  resting  upon  its 
summit,  and  a  great  patch  of  sunlight  lying  across  its 
seamless  front,  it  impressed  us  even  more  than  Mont 
Blanc  or  many  another  more  elevated  and  famous  moun 
tain.  Winding  round  Inspiration  Point  we  came  in  view 
of  the  whole  valley,  the  pale  silvery  gray  mountains 
ranging  away  at  either  hand  from  the  great  white  king. 
We  looked,  drew  breath,  and  gave  vent  with  such  powers 
as  God  had  given  us  to  the  wronder,  delight,  admiration, 
and  awe  which  all  persons,  I  believe,  experience  in  first 
beholding  this  marvel  of  nature.  But  who  ever  could 
put  such  emotions  into  words  that  conveyed  them  to  any 
other  mind  ? 

To  know  the  Yosemite,  to  see  El  Capitan,  to  get  a  pic 
ture  into  your  mind  which  will  be  a  lifelong  delight  to 
yourself,  but  utterly  "not  transferable,"  you  must  do  just 
what  we  did,  go  yourself  and  bring  it  away.  Leaving  In 
spiration  Point,-  both  literally  and  metaphorically  there, 
we  wound  round  the  sharpest  of  curves,  down  the  canon 
into  the  valley.  In  reaching  the  bottom  it  seemed  as  if 
we  had  left  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  entered  a  mere 
crevice  of  its  granitic  foundations,  a  fissure  in  the  great 
chaos  of  everlasting  rocks ;  and  the  towering  peaks  and 
overhanging  crags  seem  inarching  down  upon  one,  and 


THE  SOUTH  DOME.  235 

pressing  and  crowding  one  in,  until  it  seems  almost  a 
struggle  to  breathe. 

Literally  the  valley  is  BO  deep  that  in  winter  the  sun 
rises  after  ten  in  the  morning  and  sets  about  three,  and 
yet  several  families  live  here  the  year  round.  The  forms 
of  the  various  summits  are  varied  and  majestic,  their 
height  varying  from  one  to  six  thousand  feet,  but  after  all 
it  seemed  to  us  that  the  variety  and  wondrous  beauty  of 
coloring  is  even  more  marvellous  than  the  form,  height,  or 
grandeur  of  the  scene.  From  El  Capitan's  creamy,  ivory 
whiteness  the  rocks  deepen  through  every  shade  of  pearl, 
smoke,  and  gray  tints  to  great  black  patches  here  and 
there  frescoed  upon  the  silvery  gray  granite,  and  the 
masses  of  dusky  oaks  and  dense  green  pines  that  cling  to 
the  face  of  the  range. 

Next  to  El  Capitan,  we  were  most  impressed,  as  we 
drove  on  through  the  valley,  with  the  South  Dome,  or,  as 
the  Indians  called  it,  Tis-oa-ack,  the  Goddess  of  the  Val 
ley,  a  great  shining  silvery  dome,  as  perfect  as  if  one  cut 
a  globe  through  with  a  knife.  A  little  patch  of  snow 
rested  upon  its  summit  and  glittered  in  the  sunshine,  and 
at  its  edge  one  tiny  shrub,  as  it  looked,  which  our  guide 
told  us  was  a  pine  tree  of  goodly  size,  as  seen  through  a 
telescope,  for  no  one  has  as  yet  been  able  to  reach  the 
summit  of  this  mountain,  the  dome  itself  being  tiled  as  it 
were  with  great,  smooth,  overlapping  slabs  of  granite, 
curving  at  an  angle  of  about  sixty  degrees,  and  impossible 
of  passage  to  any  natural  appliances  except  wings.  No 
doubt  the  craving  curiosity  and  love  of  dominion  inherent 
in  man  will  impel  somebody  before  long  to  drag  all  sorts 


236  THE   TOSEMITE  FALLS. 

of  tools  and  laborers  up  the  miles  of  precipice  to  the  foot 
of  this  dome  and  construct  some  means  of  ascent,  but  for 
the  present  it  lies  beyond  his  grasp,  and,  if  we  had  our 
way,  should  never  be  invaded. 

We  drove  five  miles  down  the  valley  beside  the  clear 
waters  of  the  Merced,  rippling  over  their  bed  of  silvery 
pebbles,  past  Black's  Hotel  and  the  Cosmopolitan  bath 
houses,  to  the  Yosemite  House,  constructed  like  the  Big 
Tree  Station  Hotel,  in  detached  buildings — dining-room 
and  kitchen  offices  in  one,  bed-rooms  in  several  others,  and 
the  parlor  over  the  way  from  all.  Opening  from  the 
parlor  is  a  room  built  round  the  trunk  of  a  huge  oak  tree, 
and  embellished  with  a  great  open  fire-place  built  of 
stones  rudely  fitted  together  and  whitewashed.  A  big 
fire  was  blazing  here,  but  the  room  was  a  most  distracting 
place  to  me,  as  it  was  impossible  either  to  feel  one's  self 
either  in  the  house  or  out  of  doors  in  it,  and  one  could 
never  tell  whether  to  sit  down  in  slippers  with  a  book  be 
side  the  fire,  or  don  one's  hat  and  take  a  walk  beneath  the 
tree. 

After  dinner,  and  about  sunset,  we  started  to  walk  to 
the  foot  of  the  Yosemite  Falls,  just  behind  the  hotel.  It 
is  a  pleasant  stroll  over  a  green  field  or  two,  and  crossing 
upon  a  little  bridge  over  the  Merced  River,  whose  bright 
waters  enter  the  valley  by  a  plunge  over  its  rocky  wall  in 
the  Vernal  and  Nevada  Falls.  The  foot  of  the  fall  is  en 
cumbered  with  great  boulders  and  masses  of  rock  and 
fallen  trees ;  but  scrambling  among  them  as  best  we 
might,  we  approached  the  great  wonder  through  clouds  of 
driving  mist  and  spray  that  would  soon  wet  one  to  the  skin. 


GLACIER  POINT.  237 

The  highest  of  the  falls  is  2,600  feet,  and  Niagara  is 
163,  and  yet  the  two  are  kin  in  the  sensations  of  slowly 
gathering  delight  and  awe  that  they  evoke.  It  was  bnt  a 
glimpse  that  we  could  take,  for  dusk  was  already  upon  us, 
and  after  a  few  moments  of  silent  admiration  we  turned 
our  backs,  resolving  to  perfect  our  acquaintance  on  the 
morrow. 

Descending  from  our  seventh  heaven  of  romance  and 
delight,  we  sought  our  sleeping-rooms,  and  found  the  ac 
commodations  of  the  most  primitive  description — the 
chambers  small,  sparsely  furnished,  and  with  but  a  single 
window,  and  door  opening  upon  the  piazza,  the  former  pro 
vided  with  no  shade  but  a  wooden  one,  quite  effectual  in 
shielding  one  from  the  world's  rude  gaze,  but  also  effectual 
in  excluding  all  light.  The  struggle  to  dress  under  these 
adverse  circumstances  was  rather  a  severe  one,  but  at  a 
very  respectable  hour  in  the  morning  the  party  assembled 
in  the  parlor-house,  adjourned  to  the  dining-room  house, 
and  after  breakfast  separated,  some  to  pay  a  second  visit 
to  the  Yosemite  Falls,  some  to  sit  placidly  upon  the  piazza 
and  contemplate  them  from  that  point,  from  whence,  in 
deed,  one  gains  an  admirable  view. 

Some  of  the  party,  however,  found  energy  to  set  off 
on  horseback,  under  the  charge  of  two  guides,  to  ascend 
Glacier  Point  and  obtain  one  of  the  wildest  and  most  im 
pressive  views  of  the  whole  valley.  One  of  the  guides 
was  the  owner  of  the  trail,  and  the  other,  in  consequence  of 
being  snowed  up  overnight  in  the  Sierras,  had  totally  and 
permanently  lost  his  voice,  and  conversed  altogether  in  a 
hoarse  whisper.  The  Merced  was-  crossed  over  a  tall  bridge, 


238        THE  MECCA   OF  THE  MORNING'S  PILGRIMAGE. 

and  after  this  the  steep,  zigzag  trail  was  soon  struck  out 
along  the  face  of  the  precipice,  and  just  wide  enough  for 
a  horse  to  pass.  At  some  points  the  curves  are  really 
frightful,  and  the  horse  in  rounding  them  seems  to  hang 
on  by  his  feet,  his  body  overhanging  the  precipice.  The 
beasts  utterly,  ignore  any  attempt  at  guidance,  and  pursue 
their  course  with  a  calm  confidence  and  phlegm  which  is, 
after  all,  their  riders'  best  guarantee  of  safety. 

The  Yosemite  Falls  is  always  in  sight,  and  El  Capitan 
dominated  the  valley  as  usual.  The  trail  grew  steeper 
and  more^  terrific,  and  after  a  time,  by  suggestion,  most  of 
the  party  dismounted,  making  the  rest  of  the  way  on  foot, 
the  guides  leading  the  horses.  The  path  wound  and 
doubled,  always  ascending  for  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile, 
then  led  through  pine-woods  for  a  space,  and  finally  ended 
upon  Glacier  Point  itself,  a  rocky  summit,  6,000  feet 
above  the  sea  level. 

A  little  foot-trail  through  the  chaparral  led  to  a 
smooth  over-hanging  rock,  and  here,  for  those  who  have 
the  nerve  to  stand,  or  the  moral  courage  to.  creep  on  hands 
and  knees,  lies  the  Mecca  of  their  morning's  pilgrimage. 
Again  words  fail-  to  give  any  idea  of  the  view  to  be 
gained  from  this  eyrie,  the  more  especially  as  all  painters, 
photographers,  and  draughtsmen  fail  in  giving  the  idea 
of  profound  depths  uncontrasted  with  heights,  and  here 
all  is  depth,  except,  to  be  sure,  the  crests  of  the  Sierras 
upon  the  horizon,  and  the  splendid  South  Dome,  North 
Dome,  Cloud's  Rest,  Cap  of  Liberty,  Mount  Star  King, 
and  the  other  summits,  whose  level,  or  near  it,  has  been 
attained ;  but  below  are  to  be  seen  great  trees  two  hun- 


A   CLEFT  iy  THE  PLATEAU  OF  THE  SIERRAS.  239 

dred  feet  in  height,  dwarfed  to  shrubs,  houses  like  peas,  a 
bright  speck  like  a  diamond,  which  is  Mirror  Lake,  a 
thread,  which  is  the  Merced  River,  and  small  checker 
board  squares  of  verdure,  which  are  the  orchards  and 
gardens  of  Larnar's  and  Ilutching's  claims. 

Opposite  lay  the  Mountain  of  the  Royal  Arches,  or  as 
the  Indians  more  significantly  called  it,  To-coy-ae,  the 
Baby-Basket-Shade,  for  the  silvery-gray  face  of  the  rock 
is  cut  in  regular  sweeping  curves,  just  like  the  top  of  a 
Piute  baby -basket.  A  little  house  has  just  been  com 
pleted  here,  where  one  may  dine,  or,  if  one  chooses,  spend 
the  night.  An  additional  climb,  on  horseback,  of  a  thou 
sand  feet  brings  one  to  Sentinel  Dome  ;  this  is  the  hard 
est  part  of  the  ride,  as  there  is  hardly  any  trail,  but  the 
horses  pick  their  way,  in  some  places  very  steep,  among 
the  stones  strewing  the  dome-like  summit,  until  a  circle  is 
reached  of  deep  snow,  and  a  gnarled  and  twisted  old  tree 
which  marks  the  crest. 

The  view  here  takes  in  the  entire  valley  from  El  Capi- 
tan  to  Yernal  Falls,  with  South  Dome,  and  Star  King, 
and  Cloud's  Rest,  and  all  the  great  still  peaks,  upon  whose 
eternal  silence  and  seclusion  it  seems  so  impertinent  for 
chattering,  staring,  Junch-eating  humanity  to  intrude. 
From  here  also  is  to  be  had  the  real  idea  of  the  formation 
of  the  valley,  and  it  may  be  seen  that  it  is  not  a  level  shut 
in  by  mountains  rising  on  either  hand,  but  a  cleft  in 
the  immense  plateau  of  the  Sierras,  and  one  may  look 
down  and  down  into  its  blue  depths  as  one  would  look 
into  the  centre  of  the  earth  were  it  to  open  at  one's  feet. 

The  guide  rolled  an  immense  rock  down   the   steep 


240  A  VALANCHES  AND  SLIDES  OF  ROCK. 

incline,  and  it  was  fourteen  seconds  before  a  low  tinkling 
sound  told  that  it  had  struck  below. 

Mirror  Lake  is  about  three  miles  from  the  hotel,  and 
the  pictures  impressed  on  its  placid  surface  are  best  to  be 
seen  in  the  early  morning.  On  its  one  side  rises  South 
Dome,  and  on  the  other  Washington  Column  and  North 
Dome,  and  the  little  lake  is  all  shut  in  by  the  great  chis 
elled  walls  of  stone,  carved  as  richly  as  any  cathedral, 
Gothic  or  Norman,  or  as  the  old  rock  temples  of  the 
Egyptian  kings. 

Some  great  white  scars  upon  North  Dome,  we  were 
told,  were  caused  by  avalanches,  or  slides  of  rock,  which 
take  place  almost  every  winter,  under  the  influence  of 
frost  and  sun  and  melting  snows.  But  perhaps  as  fine  a 
sight  as  Mirror  Lake  is  to  be  found  by  following  the 
Merced  River  down  the  valley  until  one  reaches  the  pool 
it  forms  at  the  feet  of  El  Capitan,  and  as  one  gazes 
upon  the  picture  of  the  great  monarch,  it  seems  the 
grandest  shadow  of  this  world  of  shades. 

But  to  catalogue  the  sights  and  wonders  of  the  Yose- 
mite  Valley  would  be  at  once  a  thankless  and  unsatisfac 
tory  task ;  each  pair  of  eyes  must  see,  each  heart  must 
open  to  receive,  each  memory  must  reproduce  for  itself 
the  marvel  of  the  great  mountains,  the  bright,  brilliant 
beauty  of  the  falls,  the  loveliness  of  coloring,  the  unique 
charm  arid  fascination  of  the  whole.  What  use,  for 
instance,  to  say  that  the  Bridal  Veil  Cataract  is  six  hun 
dred  and  thirty  feet  in  height?  Does  that  fact  give  an 
idea  of  its  undulating,  gauzy,  and  ever-varying  folds  of 
most  impalpable  vapor  and  mist,  now  condensing  into 


A  LIFE- LONG  DELIGHT.  241 

water,  now  etherealized  into  clouds  ?  Or  how  can  one,  in 
words,  convey  an  idea  of  the  marvel  and  the  delight  to  be 
gathered  in  a  whole  day  devoted  to  the  Nevada  and  Ver 
nal  Falls,  whose  foaming  and  rushing  majesty  of  waters 
deign  at  last  to  be  gathered  into  the  rock=bound  channel  of 
the  Merced  River,  scarcely  ten  feet  in  width  in  most  places. 

This  excursion  first,  on  horseback  if  you  choose,  or  on 
foot  if  you  are  wise  and  physically  strong,  to  the  top 
of  Vernal  falls,  and  after  dining  and  resting,  still  higher 
to  the  top  of  the  Nevada  Falls,  is  perhaps  the  finest  of 
all  that  can  be  made  in  the  Yosemite,  although  it  seems 
basest  ingratitude  to  rank  anything  lower  than  best,  when 
all  are  so  charming,  and  so  far  beyond  the  best  of  any 
where  else,  perhaps  in  the  world.  So,  waiving  all  further 
attempts  at  description,  we  simply  say,  provide  yourselves 
with  good,  plain,  weather-proof  clothes  and  boots  ;  put 
money  in  your  purse,  and  a  cheerful  and  unexacting 
spirit  in  your  temper,  for  the  Yosemite  is  no  paradise  of 
creature  comforts ;  arrange  if  you  can  a  party  large 
enough  to  fill  a  coach  chartered  for  your  private  use,  and 
then  go  your  way,  prepared  to  spend  a  week,  if  possible, 
in  this  wonderful  place,  whose  remembrance  will  be  a 
delight  to  you  as  long  as  you  live. 

An  excursion  we  did  not  make,  but  what  is  said 
amply  to  repay  the  added  fatigue,  expense,  and  time,  is 
the  tour  of  the  rim  of  the  Valley.  This  can  be  made  in 
four  or  five  days,  camping  out  at  night  with  guides,  tents, 
and  animals  to  carry  about  those  cumbersome  appliances 
of  civilization  without  which  most  of  us  find  it  so  un 
comfortable  to  exist  for  even  a  day. 
11 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE    MARIPOSA    "BIG    TREES." 

WE  left  the  valley  about  eleven  o'clock  one  morning, 
looking  our  last,  as  we  hurried  past,  at  one  ob 
ject  after  another  already  grown  familiar  and  beloved, 
and  at  Inspiration  Point  paused  for  one  long,  last,  com 
prehensive  gaze  at  everything  from  El  Capitan  to  Vernal 
Falls,  to  gaze,  to  wipe  the  parting  tear — and  to  lunch ! 
Poor  human  nature,  to  whom  crackers,  sardines,  and  Pom- 
ery  Sec.  are  still  a  necessity,  let  the  South  Dome  glit 
ter  never  so  grandly,  El  Capitan  look  down  serene  and 
inscrutable  as  all  Egypt,  and  the  Bridal  Yeil  float  and 
glisten,  and  waver,  as  if  it  hid  capricious  Undine  herself 
within  its  folds. 

The  day  was  hot  and  dusty,  the  reaction  from  intense 
delight  and  fatigue  was  upon  us,  everybody  was  silent 
and  drowsy,  and  nothing  appeared  very  cheerful  until 
about  sunset  we  came  upon  a  herdsman's  camp  on  Otter 
Creek,  and  saw  the  wild  and  picturesque-looking  fellows 
lying  or  standing  around  their  great  fire,  some  merely 
posing,  like  Salvator  Rosa's  people,  some  preparing  a 
supper  of  lamb,  spitted  for  roasting,  bread,  ready  kneaded 
for  baking,  and  tin  pots  of  coffee.  Great  flocks  of  sheep 
were  grazing  about,  and  all  along  the  sides  of  the  canon 


BIO -TREE  STATION.  243 

fires  had  been  kindled  to  keep  away  the  panthers  and 
bears  which  infest  these  woods. 

The  scene  recalled  an  old  German  fairy  story  of  the 
Charcoal  Burners,  in  the  Hartz  Mountains,  and  one  idly 
wondered  if  Kiibezahl  were  not  behind  this  or  that  great 
pine  tree,  ready  to  offer  to  some  of  us  that  wonderful 
bargain  of  all  that  this  world  holds,  in  exchange  for  what 
we  hope  in  another,  which  some  mortals  would  be  so 
glad  to  make,  if  they  had  the  chance,  and  some  have 
already  made,  and  some  are  sure  they  would  never  make, 
simply  because  they  have  never  had  the  chance  of  mak 
ing  it. 

About  seven  we  reached  Big  Tree  Station,  dined,  and 
wandered  about  in  search  of  our  detached  bed-rooms, 
and  then  passed  a  pleasant  evening  beside  the  huge, 
blazing  wood-fire  in  the  cheerful  parlor,  listening  to  the 
diverse  accounts  and  impressions  of  those  who  had  made 
the  journey  to  the  trees  which  we  were  to  visit  on  the 
morrow. 

Directly  after  breakfast  next  morning  the  horses  were 
selected  and  the  party  started  for  the  excursion  to  the 
Big  Tree  Grove.  The  trail  was  an  easy  and  safe  one, 
winding  along  the  hill-sides  without  sharp  turns,  but 
always  rising  through  pine-woods  for  about  five  miles. 
The  sugar-pines  in  this  region  grow  to  an  enormous  size, 
and  happily  but  few  of  them  have  been  burned,  an  opera 
tion  which  has  nearly  ruined  the  beauty  of  many  fine 
tracts  of  woodland  here.  The  dog-wood  also  grows  into 
quite  tall  trees,  and  bears  a  larger  flower  than  we  ever  see 
at  the  East.  The  party  was  followed  part  of  the  way  by 


244  THE  FALLEN  MONARCH. 

two  Indians  going  out  to  fish,  and  we  must  say,  with  all 
deference  to  Mr.  Cooper,  that  the  "  noble  savage "  is 
generally  a  very  disgusting  animal. 

The  first  view  of  the  Sequoias  is  rather  disappointing ; 
they  are  huge  trees,  no  doubt,  but  so  much  has  been  said 
and  written  of  them,  and  one's  ideas  become  so  romanti 
cally  and  vaguely  raised,  that  probably  no  reality  could 
have  satisfied  them ;  besides,  we  had  already  seen  the 
Sonoma  red -wood  grove,  and  a  first  love,  if  not  so  worthy 
as  the  subsequent  ones,  is  always  the  first ;  nor  is  the 
average  (female)  mind  mathematical  enough  to  admire 
the  works  of  nature  in  exact  ratio  with  their  size,  a  very 
big  tree  usually  exciting  as  much  satisfaction  as  one  a 
little  bigger. 

A  stop  was  made  beside  the  Fallen  Monarch,  lying 
two  hundred  feet  or  more  along  the  ground,  its  white  and 
polished  sides  completely  stripped  of  bark  to  where  the 
branches  began,  and  above  that  thatched  with  slippery, 
shaggy,  red  scales.  The  bark  of  these  trees  is  one  of  their 
most  noticeable  features,  reaching  sometimes  the  thick 
ness  of  two  feet,  and  averaging  one  foot ;  it  is  of  a  beau 
tiful,  light  bronzed-brown  color,  and  gnarled  and  twisted 
into  the  most  fantastic  curves  and  shapes. 

Climbing  a  ladder  leaned  against  this  poor  fallen 
monarch's  side,  one  promenades  up  and  down  the  trunk 
as  in  a  dancing-hall,  reminding  one  of  the  Liliputians. 
swarming  over  prostrate  Gulliver,  until  finally  all  wended 
their  way  to  the  Grizzly  Giant,  the  next  memorable  tree. 
It  is  certainly  a  monstrous  vegetable,  measuring  ninety- 
two  feet  in  circumference,  or  thirty  feet  in  diameter  at 


A  MODERN  BLIND  SAMSON.  245 

the  ground,  and  throwing  out  great  knotted  claws  of 
roots  by  which  to  grasp  the  soil.  It  has  been  sadly  in 
jured  by  fire,  one  side  being  quite  burned  away,  and  the 
height,  altogether  immense,  seems  disproportionate  to 
the  girth,  the  top,  as  with  most  of  the"  Sequoias,  being 
flat  and  nnsymmetrical,  as  if  they  had  been  "headed  in," 
and  never  recovered  from  it. 

The  Grizzly  Giant  is  evidently  immensely  old,  but 
the  savants  have  not  yet  agreed  if  each  ring  signifies  a 
year  or  only  a  few  months'  growth,  and  thus  leaving  one 
uncertain  whether  respectfully  and  with  some  degree  of 
practicalness  to  imagine  the  Grizzly  gaily  flaunting  its 
first  suit  of  glossy  leaves  about  the  time  when  Alfred 
toasted  the  oak-cakes,  or  wildly  to  plunge  back  about  ten 
thousand  years  into  the  dimmest  sort  of  past,  being  some 
two  or  three  thousand  years  before  creation,  if  one  is  to 
follow  the  Biblical  theory.  At  any  rate,  however,  the 
poor  old  fellow  will  never  see  another  thousand  years, 
and  as  he  stands  there  among  the  pines  and  dog-woods, 
which  respectfully  fall  back  to  give  him  room,  one  feels 
the  sort  of  awe  and  pity  with  which  the  Philistines  may 
have  regarded  blind  Samson,  brought  forth  to  make 
mirth  for  them. 

Another  mile  very  steep  and  rather  tiring,  and  the 
main  or  upper  grove  was  reached,  where  lunch  awaited 
the  party,  and  this  being  disposed  of,  it  was  found  by 
wandering  about  that  the  trees  are  scattered  around  among 
Bugar-pines,  whose  great  cones  strew  the  ground. 

At  the  upper  end  of  the  grove  lies  Pluto's  Chimney, 
a  great  tree  burnt  out  black  and  smooth  inside,  with  a 


246 


RAVAGES  OF  FIRE. 


flake  of  snow  lodged  in  the  gloomy  tunnel.  The  horses 
were  ridden  through,  the  human  heads  bending  a  trifle 
on  passing  out  at  the  upper  end.  A  great  burnt  stump 
at  the  north  side  of  the  grove  is  said  to  indicate  a  tree 
larger  than  any  now  standing,  but  cannot  be  called,  in  its 
present  state,  a  "  thing  of  beauty,"  or  "  a  joy  forever." 

The  trees  here  are  more  in  number  and  average  larger 
in  size  than  at  the  Calaveras  Grove,  but  are  not  so  tall. 
About  five  hundred  years  are  required  to  bring  a  Sequoia 
to  maturity,  a  fact  militating  against  one's  natural  desire 
to  carry  home  slips  and  seeds,  and  raise  them,  in  mignon 
ette  boxes  on  one's  window-sill ! 

A  great  deal  of  the  pleasure  of  visiting  these  groves 
is  destroyed  by  the  ravages  of  fire,  which  has  devastated 
them  at  different  times,  destroying  many  trees  entirely, 
ruining  the  shape  of  others,  and  giving  a  general  look  of 
forlornness  and  smirch  to  the  whole  scene.  Still,  no  one 
who  can  do  so  should  omit  to  visit  them,  as  they  are 
certainly  among  the  unique  and  marvellous  works  of 
Nature,  of  which  California  is  justly  proud. 


CUTTING  DOWN  ONE  OF  THE  BIG  TREES. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

THE     QUEEN     OF     THE     ANGELS. 

tedium  of  our  return  drive  to  Merced  was  en- 
I  livened,  apart  from  the  internal  resources  of  the 
party,  by  the  sight  of  several  immense  droves  of  sheep,  arid 
one  herd  of  the  prettiest  little  white  kids,  capering  about 
among  the  chaparral  so  gracefully,  that  one  profanely 
wondered,  if  it  might  not  be  better,  after  all,  to  rank 
as  goat  rather  than  sheep;  after  this  came  dinner  at 
Mariposa,  arid  beyond  Mariposa  were  some  Chinese  placer- 
miners  hard  at  work  with  shovel  and  pan. ;  then  we  were 
diverted  by  the  struggles  of  some  sheep  in  one  of  the 
high  bush  fences,  used  to  enclose  them  in  this  quarter, 
and  finally  on  the  Merced  Plains  the  series  of  entertain 
ments  concluded  with  a  driving  rain-storm  accompanied 
by  a  high  warm  wind. 

Although  disagreeable  to  us,  the  rain  seemed  to  bring 
delight  to  those  residing  in  this  locality,  for  the  drought 
had  been  so  continued  and  severe  that  the  sheep  were 
unable  to  find  nourishment,  and  their  owners  were  sell 
ing  them  at  a  couple  of  dollars  each.  All  of  a  sudden 
the  storm  cleared,  the  jack-rabbits  and  squirrels  came  out 
in  crowds  to  give  us  good-day,  while  at  the  mouth  of 
almost  every  burrow  sat  a  solemn  little  gray  owl,  his 
yellow  eyes  blinking  in  the  sunshine  which  now  broke 


248  THE  ROBBERS  ROOST. 

out.  The  great  black  thunder-clouds  rolled  off  toward 
the  north,  the  sky  between  them  turned  of  a  lovely  tur 
quoise  blue,  and  we  arrived  at  Merced  in  the  full  glory 
of  a  sunset  brilliant  enough  to  drive  Turner  mad. 

We  found  the  town  excited  over  a  fire  which  two 
nights  before  had  burned  down  several  blocks  of  ware 
houses,  and  everybody  was  on  the  alert  to  find  the  incen 
diary,  who,  being  discovered,  would,  as  Hiram,  our  driver, 
confidently  averred,  "  tumble  off  a  one-legged  horse  and 
break  his  neck,  without  troubling  judge  or  jury." 

Our  hotel-car  was  to  meet  us  at  Merced,  and  did  so,  so 
that  very  night  we  settled  down  to  the  old  life  of  sec 
tions  and  berths  and  the  lullaby  of  iron  wheels  circling 
on  iron  rails,  and  felt  that  the  homeward  journey  had 
begun,  although  our  course  was  for  the  present  south 
ward. 

The  next  day  we  passed  over  the  famous  Tehatchapi 
Loop,  where  the  railway,  after  running  through  the  Te 
hatchapi  Mountain,  loops  around  and  crosses  on  itself  by 
tunnel  as  the  only  possibility  of  getting  over  the  tremen 
dous  grade  between  the  two  levels.  The  country  now 
changed  to  a  dry,  desolate  plain,  dotted  over  with  gray- 
green  herbage-like  sage-brush,  and  needle-palms  with 
twisted  branches  studded  with  branches  of  sharp  green 
spears.  Nothing  much  drearier  than  this  monotonous 
brown  plain,  shut  in  at  the  horizon  by  cone-like  hills  as 
bare  and  brown  as  itself,  can  be  imagined,  and  it  was  a 
relief  to  arrive  and  get  out  for  a  few  moments  at  Robber's 
Roost,  a  little  beyond  Mojave.  It  is  named  in  honor  of 
the  famous  robber,  Vasquez,  who  had  his  principal  strong- 


A  SPANISH-LOOKING  TOWN.  249 

hold  here,  and  it  was  between  this  point  and  Santa  Barbara 
that  he  was  captured  two  or  three  years  ago. 

The  principal  feature  of  the  place  at  present  is  a  man 
ufactory  where  paper  is  made  from  the  fibrous  wood  of 
the  needle-palm,  which  is  cut  into  sections  four  inches 
thick,  macerated  in  water,  and  afterwards  treated  precisely 
like  other  material.  The  result  is  a  fine  white  and  also  a 
coarse  light  brown  paper,  both  of  them  very  satisfactory. 

The  rest  of  the  way  to  Los  Angeles  was  through  the 
same  arid  plain  and  among  broken  hills  dotted  with  cactus 
and  needle-palms,  hot,  smoking,  and  tropical  looking. 
We  had  appointed  to  meet  Mr.  Baldwin,  of  San  Francisco, 
at  Los  Angeles,  and  to  visit  his  ranch ;  but  as  he  was  not 
at  the  station  on  our  arrival,  we  left  our  belongings  in  the 
car,  and  sallied  forth  to  view  the  town. 

It  was  quite  different  from  any  we  had  yet  seen,  having 
a  distinctly  Spanish  and  semi-tropical  air,  and  making  us 
feel  more  decidedly  than  we  yet  had  done,  that  we  were 
away  from  home  and  almost  in  a  foreign  land.  The  shops 
were  most  of  them  open  to  the  street,  and  in  the  fruiterers* 
stalls  hung  great  bunches  and  branches  of  oranges  with 
the  leaves  on,  as  if  just  plucked.  Besides  the  oranges, 
lemons,  bananas  and  grapes,  peaches  and  apricots  were 
offered  in  great  abundance,  and  all  of  most  tempting  size 
and  beauty.  In  fact,  one  felt  more  as  if  promenading  the 
hall  of  an  Agricultural  Fair  than  a  public  street,  and 
found  it  hard  to  believe  that  just  such  fruits,  or  others  as 
fine,  besides  an  abundance  of  flowers,  may  be  plucked  at 
Los  Angeles  every  day  in  the  year. 

In  fact,  this  place  seems  the  long-sought  paradise  for 


250  THE  FOUNTAIN  OF  PERPETUAL   YOUTH. 

invalids  and  sybarites,  and  no  doubt  if  poor  Ponce  do 
Leon  had  only  come  hither  instead  of  going  to  sultry, 
boggy  Florida,  he  would  have  found  the  Fountain  of  Per 
petual  Youth  flowing  into  the  San  Gabriel  River ! 

The  stories  told  of  the  salubrity,  the  charm,  and  the 
equability  of  the  climate  are  marvellous,  and  one  thing 
not  yet  mentioned  completes  the  list  of  attractions.  One 
need  not  pass  four  anxious  weeks  in  every  year  in  consid 
ering  one's  spring,  summer,  autumn,  and  winter  clothes, 
since  where  the  thermometer  never  varies  more  than  forty 
degrees  through  the  year,  and  when  Major  Truman  says 
he  never  changed  his  bed-coverings  from  January  to 
December,  surely  there  need  not  be  a  total  revolution  of 
costume  four  times  during  that  period.  We  commend 
this  consideration  to  the  sex  with  whose  cares  and  anxi 
eties  we  are  best  acquainted,  while  to  their  lords  we 
will  simply  say,  "  There  are  millions  in  it ; "  for  let 
nations  rise  and  fall,  Turk  or  Russian  beat,  hard  or  soft 
money  win  the  day,  oranges  will  still  be  eaten,  lemons 
will  still  be  drunken,  and  grapes  will  be  pressed  into  wine 
as  they  have  been  since  the  days  of  Noe,  and  of  raising  all 
these  things  there  is  no  end  here  in  the  heart  of  semi- 
tropical  California,  and  the  wily  heathen  stands  ready  to 
labor  for  you  well  and  cheaply. 

The  city  itself,  El  Pueblo  de  la  Reina  de  los  Angeles, 
to  give  its  full  name,  is  "  of  a  certain  age,"  that  is  to  say, 
an  age  difficult  to  determine,  having  originated  in  1781, 
when  Felipe  de  Nieve,  then  Spanish  Governor  of  Cali 
fornia,  issued  from  his  quarters  at  the  Mission  of  St. 
Gabriel,  nine  miles  distant,  an  order  of  a  settlement  bear- 


THE  FOUNDING   OF  THE  TOWN.  251 

ing  the  name  popularly  contracted  in  California  to 
"  Angeles." 

The  town  thus  founded  consisted  of  twelve  invalided 
soldiers  with  their  families,  and  the  horses,  oxen,  sheep, 
goats,  asses,  and  hoes,  provided  for  them  by  a  paternal 
government  quite  alive  to  the  fact  that  men  cannot  pay 
taxes  without  the  means  of  earning  money.  The  village 
thus  constituted  vegetated  mildly  for  fifty  years  or  so,  and 
in  1836,  after  the  dear  old  Padres  had  been  so  unkindly 
disturbed  from  their  sleepy  picturesque  prosperity,  and 
their  orange  groves  and  olive  gardens  sold  for  the  benefit 
of  the  Mexican  Government,  Los  Angeles  was  made  into  a 
city,  so  called,  and  became  the  capital  of  Alta  California. 

Still  it  consisted  of  only  one  crooked  street  of  adobe 
houses,  with  a  mission  church  at  one  end,  an  alcalde's 
office,  and  no  disagreeable  agitation  or  novelty  to  show 
that  the  nineteenth  century  had  gotten  hold  of  it,  although 
passing  with  the  rest  of  California  into  possession  of  the 
United  States  at  the  close  of  the  Mexican  war,  until  the 
discovery  of  gold,  and  the  consequent  invasion  of  Cali 
fornia  by  men  who,  with  their  lives  in  their  hands,  freely 
offered  to  barter  them  for  riches,  brought  this  garden  of 
the  State  into  notice.  Capitalists,  laborers,  speculators 
came,  saw,  and  settled.  The  sleepy  street  of  adobe 
houses  was  relegated  to  the  condition  of  a  suburb,  and 
an  American  city  was  added  to  it  somewhat  in  the  style 
that  San  Francisco  was  added  to  the  Mission  Dolores. 

Churches,  school-houses,  banks,  manufactories,  hotels, 
and  newspaper  offices  have  sprung  up,  some  of  them  to  a  sur 
prising  size,  English  is  spoken  generally,  railways  connect 


252  A  "LIVE"  AMERICAN  CITY. 

the  city  with  every  point  north,  south,  east,  and  west  that 
any  one  would  wish  to  visit,  and  some,  like  Fort  Yuma, 
that  no  one  wishes  to  visit ;  in  fact,  Los  Angeles  has, 
within  ten  years,  become  a  "live"  American  city,  and 
might  in  one  sense  date  its  existence  from  about  that  time, 
although  in  another  claiming  a  century's  growth.  At  any 
rate,  like  some  other  creatures  of  an  uncertain  age,  Los 
Angeles  is  more  charming  on  acquaintance  than  at  first 
sight,  and  one  well  believes  that  residents  become  sincere 
ly  attached  to  the  quaint,  mild-tempered,  uneventful  little 
city,  with  its  legends  and  lingering  flavor  of  Spanish  and 
monastic  dominion,  its  fruit  and  flowers,  and  sweet  and 
fragrant  atmosphere. 

Even  on  that  first  day  we  found  ourselves  well  pleased, 
as  we  strolled  up  the  wide  street  beneath  the  awnings 
spread  from  every  shop,  and  looked  in  at  the  open  stalls. 
In  one  stood  rows  of  great  red  jars  for  water-coolers,  re 
minding  one  of  Ali  Baba  and  the  forty  thieves,  and  gay 
stuffs  for  dresses  and  mantles  and  scarfs,  such  as  these 
half-tropical  women  love  to  wear. 

Now  and  then  we  met  a  Mexican  woman,  the  head 
muffled  in  her  mantilla,  and  the  sun  glaring  on  her  yellow 
skin,  and  plenty  of  Chinese,  cool,  sleek,  and  comfortable. 
Near  the  Pico  House  we  passed  a  Spanish  hostelry  of 
some  sort,  with  a  shadowy  green  court-yard  in  front,  a 
piano  playing  within  doors,  and  a  brown  senora  with  some 
pretty  children  strolling  under  the  trees.  We  stopped  to 
dine  at  a  French  cafe  called  the  Commercial  Restaurant, 
built  around  two  square  courts,  upon  the  larger  of  which 
the  dining-room  opened,  so  that  sitting  at  table  we  looked 


WHERE  TO  "SIT"  FOR  A  PICTURE.  253 

out  upon  the  wide,  sunshiny  extent  with  a  gallery  running 
around  it,  and  some  orange  trees  in  odorous  bloom.  Op 
posite  our  windows  were  those  of  the  kitchen,  with  the 
white-capped  chef  giving  his  orders  writhin,  and  a  group 
of  Chinese  and  French  servants  obeying  them. 

The  dinner  was  delicious,  and  the  shade  and  rest  re 
freshing,  but  in  a  little  while  all  were  ready  for  further 
explorations,  and  began  with  a  photographer's  rooms,  in 
one  corner  of  whose  salon  was  a  dentist's  office  curtained 
off,  and  we  were  curious  to  discover  whether  the  period 
just  before  or  just  after  the  dental  operations  is  considered 
by  the  Angelites  most  favorable  to  sitting  for  a  picture. 

Here  also  was  a  large  reading-room,  well  supplied 
with  books  and  periodicals.  After  glancing  at  these  we 
continued  our  explorations,  and  presently  found  ourselves 
in  a  square  of  little  one-story  buildings,  whose  red  and 
gilt  door-plates  would  have  betrayed  the  presence  of  our 
Mongolian  guests,  even  without  the  blue-clad,  cork-soled, 
umbrella-hatted,  and  cunning-eyed  figures,  standing  or 
squatting  around,  and  the  oddly  coiffed  woman  stooping 
to  relight  one  of  the  joss-sticks  at  her  door.  There  were 
a  few  Chinese  shops,  but  too  small  and  dirty  to  be  attrac 
tive,  and  in  fact  one's  taste  becomes  in  Los  Angeles  too 
distinctively  Spanish  to  care  for  other  flavors,  so  we  soon 
drove  back  to  the  older  part  of  the  town,  to  gaze  admiring 
ly  at  the  long  low  white  walls  and  flat  tiled  roofs  of  the 
adobe  houses,  and  the  picturesque  figures  of  their  inmates, 
and  the  glowing  sunlight  which  only  shines  in  Spanish 
countries,  and  all  of  which  recalled  the  pleasant  days  of 
Peruvian  memory. 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 
BALDWIN'S   RANCH   OF   SANTA  ANITA. 


to  tnc  station,  we  met  Mr.  Baldwin,  our 
JL\  kind  San  Franciscan  friend,  who  had  volunteered  to 
meet  us  here  at  Los  Angeles,  and  show  us  his  ranch  and 
orange  groves,  and  we  now  found  him  awaiting  us  with  a 
six-in-hand  carriage  and  a  buggy. 

We  started  just  as  the  great  white  moon  rose  above 
the  hills,  and  soon  were  out  upon  the  open  plain,  flying 
over  the  hard,  dry  sod,  which  rang  like  iron  beneath  the 
horses'  hoofs  ;  the  air  was  warm  and  balmy,  the  moon 
light  brilliant,  the  rapid  motion  exhilarating,  and  the 
whole  drive  delightful,  except  perhaps  the  moment  when 
the  leaders  of  the  six-horse  team  suddenly  gave  a  plunge 
which  snapped  the  harness  connecting  them  with  the  rest, 
fortunately  entirely,  and  galloped  away  into  the  distance, 
leaving  their  comrades  very  much  astonished,  their  driver 
very  much  discomforted,  and  ourselves  not  a  little  startled. 
The  horses  were  found  next  day,  one  with  a  broken  leg 
which  could  only  be  cured  with  a  rifle  ball,  and  the  other 
safe  in  the  barn  of  a  neighboring  ranch,  where  he  had 
taken  refuge. 

The  twelve  miles'  drive  was  speedily  accomplished,  and 
suddenly  rounding  the  corner  of  a  great  unfenced  field  of 
barley,  we  drove  through  Mr.  Baldwin's  orange  orchard, 


THE  WINE-HOUSES.  255 

whose  merits  were  then  only  to  be  judged  by  olfactory 
evidence,  and  presently  arrived  at  the  house,  an  old  Span 
ish  ranch  recently  purchased  by  its  present  owner  and 
retaining  the  name  of  Santa  Anita. 

Like  most  of  this  class  of  house,  it  is.  a  long,  low  build 
ing,  surrounded  by  a  wide  piazza,  and  completely  buried 
in  evergreens,  tree-ferns  and  climbing  vines.  A  great 
Chinese  lantern  hung  in  the  piazza,  and  a  pretty,  demure 
little  housekeeper,  with  Spanish  eyes  and  an  English 
tongue,  stood  ready  to  welcome  us  and  take  us  to  our 
rooms,  all  opening  into  each  other  and  out  upon  the 
piazza — charming  rooms,  large,  cool,  and  with  deep  win 
dow-seats  in  the  two-feet  thickness  of  the  walls. 

Directly  after  breakfast  the  next  morning,  we  sallied 
forth  to  see  the  wine-houses  and  other  features  of  the 
plantation.  Passing  through  the  garden  just  behind  the 
house,  and  by  the  pretty  little  lake,  we  crossed  a  wide 
open  space  among  prickly  pears  and  mock-orange  vines, 
with  tarantula  holes  under  foot,  and  the  wonderfully 
beautiful  San  Gabriel  Mountains  rising  in  purple  cones 
just  beyond  the  arid  brown  plain,  mountain  and  moor  all 
shimmering  in  the  tropical  sunshine,  which  seemed  to  rain 
down  upon  our  unaccustomed  heads,  so  that  we  were  glad 
to  get  inside  the  great,  cool,  shady  wine-houses. 

In  the  first  were  the  huge  vats  where  the  grape  press 
ing  takes  place ;  in  the  second,  great  tuns  of  wine,  sherry, 
claret,  and  angelica,  all  of  which  were  tapped  and  offered 
for  our  inspection  ;  and  in  the  third  were  stills  for  convert 
ing  wines  into  brandies. 

Coming  out  of  the  wine- houses  we  found  the  carriage 


256  CALIFORNIA  RACERS. 

awaiting  us,  and  drove  to  the  stables  to  see  Mr.  Baldwin's 
racers.  The  road  lay  through  hilly  fields  hedged  with 
willow  and  pepper  trees,  the  latter  a  very  ornamental 
shrub,  and  past  some  Mexican  huts,  delightfully  pictu 
resque  of  aspect,  being  constructed  wholly  of  thatch,  with 
sail-cloth  tents  adjoining  just  high  enough  to  stand  up 
right  in ;  half -naked  children  frisked  in  and  out  of  these 
burrows,  and  hordes  of  dogs  rushed  yelping  after  us.  The 
men  work  upon  the  estate,  and  the  women  do  nothing,  un 
less  taking  care  of  hordes  of  babes  may  be  considered  em 
ployment  ;  a  little  cluster  of  huts  farther  on  was  devoted  to 
the  Chinese  laborers,  whom  Mr.  Baldwin  highly  approves. 

At  the  stables  were  rows  of  windows,  through  nearly 
every  one  of  which  a  horse's  head  protruded  in  the  most 
sociable  manner,  and  every  head  handsome  enough  for  a 
picture.  In  the  centre  of  the  stables  is  the  head  groom's1 
sitting-room,  cosy  and  bright,  and  hung  round  with  pic 
tures  of  famous  horses,  principally  racers,  diversified  with 
a  few  actresses,  a  rack  of  whips  and  some  bright  spurs, 
while  gray  rugs  and  horse-clothing  lay  neatly  folded  on 
shelves  or  in  boxes,  and  altogether  the  place  looked  quite  a 
little  paradise  for  a  person  of  equine  propensities.  We  were 
introduced  to  Grimstead,  who  was  at  the  Saratoga  races- 
last  year,  and  to  several  unnamed  beauties  with  their  grace 
ful  heads,  delicate  limbs,  and  coats  shining  like  satin. 

Leaving  the  stables,  we  drove  to  Sunny  Slope,  Mr. 
Rose's  famous  ranch,  1,200  acres  in  extent.  We  recrossed 
much  of  the  dry  brown  plains  we  had  traversed  on  the  pre 
vious  night,  startling  the  little  ground-squirrels,  who  scur 
ried  to  their  burrows  and  disappeared  at  our  approach. 


OfiANGE  QROVTZS.  257 

The  green  mock-orange  vines  with  their  globes  scat 
tered  far  apart  were  the  only  green  things  to  be  seen, 
until  we  turned  into-  Mr.  Hose's  grounds  and  found  our 
selves  in  a  grove  of  orange  trees,  extending  in  every  di 
rection  to  an  indefinite  distance.  The  trees  were  tall, 
thick,  and  sturdy,  laden  with  heavy  golden  fruit  hiding 
beneath  the  glossy  leaves,  and  enough  blossoms  to  load  the 
air  with  the  perfume  of  a,  thousand  weddings ;  the  trees 
are  planted  in  regular  lines,  each  one  in  a  shallow  basin 
formed  in  the  earth  around  its  roots,  and  trenches  running 
between  every  five  trees,  which  at  certain  intervals  ara 
filled  with  water,  which  is  carried  to  every  tree. 

Farther  on  was  a  grove  of  lemons,  the  trees  not  so 
pretty  in  shape  or  foliage  as  the  oranges,  but  laden  with 
perfectly  enormous  fruit;  then  there  were  rows  of  fig- 
trees,  and  clumps  of  olive  with  their  masses  of  dusky  fo 
liage,  and  here  and  there  banana  trees,  although  this  fruit 
seems  not  so  much  at  home  here  as  the  fig,  orange,  olive, 
and  lemon.  The  irrigating  trenches  pervade  all  these 
plantations,  and  everything  looks  green  and  flourishing. 

From  here  we  visited  the  Mile  Ranch,  owned  by  Col. 
Kewen,  who  coming  to  this  part  of  the  country  more  than 
fifteen  years  ago,  found  on  the  spot  selected  for  his  future 
abode  the  roofless  walls  of  an  old  stone  building,  built  a 
hundred  and  one  years  before,  by  the  San  Francisco  monks 
of  the  Mission  San  Gabriel,  as  a  grist-mill  and  granary. 
Only  the  walls  remained,  but  they  were  five  feet  thick  and 
flanked  at  each  corner  by  heavy  buttresses,  adding  both  to 
the  strength  and  picturesqueness  of  the  building. 

Colonel  Kewen  restored  and  improved  and  added  to 


258  A  HAUNTED  HOUSE. 

this  ruin  with  artistic  taste  and  a  generous  hand,  so  that 
it  stands  to-day  one  of  the  loveliest  homes  in  California, 
the  gray  and  brown  stones  of  the  old  ruin  enclosing  every 
comfort  of  a  modern  American  home,  and  surrounded  by 
a  perfect  wilderness  of  flowers  and  greenery. 

No  walls  or  fences  limit  the  view,  and  the  satisfied 
eye  roams  over  masses  of  heliotrope  six  feet  high,  roses  of 
every  shade,  banks  of  honeysuckle,  lilies  heavy  with  per 
fume,  azaleas,  passion-flowers  and  pomegranates  all  on 
fire,  cactii  and  aloes,  and  some  grand  old  willows  sweep 
ing  the  ground  with  their  slender  finger-tips. 

But  with  all  the  beauty  of  its  surroundings  El  Rancho 
del  Molino  is  uninhabitable — being  haunted,  so  the  Span 
iards  will  tell  you,  by  the  spirit  of  the  mill,  a  legacy  be 
queathed  by  the  old  monks,  who  may  have  walled  up 
some  recreant  nun  or  heretical  priest  in  one  of  the  great 
corner  buttresses. 

At  any  rate  no  Spaniard  will  live  at  the  Rancho  del 
Molino,  although  Colonel  Kewen  and  his  family  manage 
to  exist  very  pleasantly,  the  ghost  not  troubling  them  half 
so  much  as  the  still  smouldering  enmity  in  the  breasts  of 
the  native  Spanish  population,  who  regard  the  Saxons  as 
interlopers  and  fraudulent  possessors  of  land  that  should 
be  theirs,  as  it  was  their  fathers'. 

Mrs.  K.  told  us  that  when  she  first  came  here  the 
country  was  overrun  by  herds  of  wild  cattle — a  beast  for 
every  blade  of  grass,  she  said,  and  it  was  impossible  for 
her  to  ride  any  distance  without  a  guard  of  fifteen  or 
twenty  vagueros  with  their  lassoes  to  protect  her. 


CHAPTER  XXX.  I- 

A  VERT  OLD  WOMAN  AND  A  VERY  OLD  CHURCH. 

WHILE  in  San  Francisco  we  had  been  shown  the 
photograph  of  Eulalia  Perrez,of  Los  Angeles — the 
oldest  woman  in  the  world — and  now  finding  ourselves  in 
the  close  vicinity  we  resolved  on  paying  her  a  visit.  Mr. 
Baldwin  accordingly  drove  us  to  her  house,  a  quaint  old 
brown  adobe  structure,  with  a  projecting  roof  sloping 
steeply  from  the  centre,  and  two  or  three  old  wine-vats 
built  against  the  walls. 

We  mounted  to  a  piazza,  where  we  were  met  by  a  very 
pretty  and  very  typical  Spanish  girl,  wearing  a  high  comb 
and  speaking  English  with  a  very  charming  accent. 

She  showed  us  into  a  sitting-room,  and  having  sent  to 
call  the  old  lady,  entertained  us  to  the  best  of  her  ability, 
informing  us  that  she  was  Senora  Eulalia's  great-grand 
daughter,  her  grandmother,  the  youngest  grandchild,  being 
sixty-five  years  old ;  her  own  father  is  an  American, 
named  Michel  White ;  her  great-grandmother's  age,  she 
said  was  about  140,  "  but  old  as  she  is,  she  cannot  speak 
a  word  of  English,"  added  she,  with  conscious  pride  in 
her  own  proficiency.  She  said  the  old  lady  was  always 
cheerful  and  sweet-tempered,  although  growing  a  trifle 
clrildish. 

Presently  she  went  out  and  returned  with  hep  great- 


260  THE  OLDEST  WOMAN  IN  THE   WORLD. 

grandmother  upon  her  arm,  a  short,  shrunken  figure,  dress 
ed  in  a  dark  calico  shirt  and  sacque,  with  a  gray  shawl  and 
gay  carpet-slippers,  her  head  queerly  covered  by  a  close- 
fitting  black  merino  hood  with  a  white  kerchief  inside, 
and  no  hair  visible  even  upon  the  forehead ;  her  skin  was 
almost  dark  as  a  mulatto's,  and  seamed  with  a  million  fine 
wrinkles.  Her  eyes  were  shrunken  to  such  a  degree  as  to 
give  the  impression  of  having  disappeared  altogether,  leav 
ing  only  two  narrow  loopholes,  red  as  fire,  and  uncanny  to 
look  upon,  but  she  presently  gave  a  proof  that  the  power 
of  discriminating  sight  remained,  for  after  having  talked 
with  me  for  some  time  she  inquired  if  I  were  married, 
and  being  answered  in  the  affirmative,  demanded  to  wJiich 
of  the  gentlemen  present. 

The  Chief  stood  at  the  further  end  of  the  room,  speak 
ing  with  a  friend  in  the  party,  and  indicating  him,  1  said, 
"  The  gentleman  with  gray  hair."  "  Yes,"  replied  Eulalia 
quickly,  "  but  there  are  two  gentlemen  with  gray  hair, 
which  is  yours  ?  " 

Then  surveying  first  the  one,  and  then  the  other,  she 
exclaimed  rather  impatiently,  "  Well,  I  should  not  think 
you  need  have  married  a  man  with  white  hair,"  and 
added  some  comments  upon  my  appearance,  which 
showed  that  at  least  her  sight  was  perfect,  whatever  may 
be  thought  of  her  taste  and  judgment. 

She  seemed  quite  delighted  at  my  speaking  to  her  in 
Spanish,  aud  kept  up  the  conversation  in  an  eager  and 
animated  manner,  and  with  a  strength  of  voice  and  quick 
ness  of  hearing  quite  extraordinary,  accompanying  her 
words  with  marked  gesticulations. 


THE  OLDEST  WOMAN  IN  THE  WORLD.    Page  259. 


HER  PROPOSED    VISIT  TO  THE  CENTENNIAL.         261 

She  wore  a  brown  rosary  about  her  neck,  and  on  my 
referring  to  her  being  a  good  Catholic  said,  that  by  the 
crucifix  she  had  learned  the  lesson  of  how  to  live,  and  she 
hoped  how  to  die. 

She  had  been  married  twice,  and  -  said  that  in  her 
youth  she  had  many  lovers,  but  could  not  decide  which  of 
them  to  marry  until  the  padre  interfered  and  insisted  that 
she  must  make  a  choice,  which  she  accordingly  did,  but 
was  left  a  widow,  and  again  she  made  a  selection,  and  one 
based  on  maturer  judgment,  and  she  had  been  even  hap 
pier  in  her  second  nuptials  than  in  her  first. 

When  asked  her  age,  she  counted  on  her  fingers  ten, 
twenty,  thirty,  and  so  on,  up  to  140,  and  it  is  certain,  and 
on  record,  that  when  the  present  church  of  the  Mission  of 
San  Gabriel  was  built,  in  1771,  she  was  a  married  woman 
with  three  children. 

She  has  three  daughters  and  two  sons  alive,  and  grand 
children  eighty  years  old,  all  settled  around  the  mission, 
and  she  lives  with  all  of  them  alternately,  going  to  church 
regularly  every  Sunday. 

Two  years  ago  she  executed  a  piece  of  fine  embroidery 
for  sale  at  a  fair,  and  still  uses  her  needle  constantly.  It 
was  proposed  to  take  her  to  the  Centennial  Exposition  in 
Philadelphia,  and  she  actually  went  as  far  as  the  cars, 
when  some  of  her  relatives,  to  whom  she  is  a  revenue, 
interfered,  and  brought  her  home  again. 

Perhaps  it  was  as  well,  for  she  has  never  been  in  all 
her  long  life  farther  than  eight  miles  from  Loretto,  her 
birthplace,  and  the  fatigue  and  excitement  would,  no 
doubt,  have  been  a  risk. 


262  THE  SPANISH  MISSION. 

By  the  time  she  had  told  all  this,  we  feared  that  the 
dear  old  lady,  who,  by  the  way,  was  most  exquisitely 
neat,  might  be  tired,  although  she  gave  no  signs  of  fa 
tigue,  and  so  rose  to  take  our  leave. 

She  appeared  really  sorry  to  have  us  go,  and  followed 
us  quite  out  to  the  carriage,  bidding  the  spokeswoman  an 
especial  good-by  with  a  prettily-turned  Spanish  compli 
ment,  not  only  upon  my  appearance,  but  what  she  called 
my  amiability  in  visiting  and  talking  to,  and  cheering  a  poor 
old  woman.  Pressing  my  hand  in  a  firm,  almost  virile* 
manner,  she  gently  uttered  in  sweet,  pure  Spanish  the 
blessing  which  comes  with  such  authority  and  sanctity 
from  aged  lips,  and  we  parted  with  mutual  regret. 

As  a  suitable  pendant  to  this  visit,  we  drove  to  the  old 
mission,  in  whose  shelter  Eulalia  Perez  was  born,  has 
lived,  and  will  doubtless  be  buried.  The  church  stands 
in  a  little  purely  Spanish  settlement  of  adobe  houses,  some 
roofed  with  thatch,  some  with  fluted  red  tiles,  bound  to 
gether  with  thongs  of  raw  hide.  Some  little  shops  hung 
out  Spanish  signs,  but  everything  was  old  and  falling  to 
decay,  except  the  chocolate-colored  children,  the  dirtiest, 
and  prettiest  creatures  imaginable,  who  swarmed  in  and 
out  of  the  uneven  doorways. 

The  church  itself  is  old  and  crumbling  to  decay,  with 
a  sort  of  sunburned  and  weary  look  to  it,  as  if  the  century 
of  exposure  to  this  fierce  heat  and  the  downfall  of  the, 
padres  had  disheartened  and  demoralized  it. 

Not  far  distant  lay  the  mission  gardens,  surrounded 
by  an  adobe  wall,  and  from  it  stretched  a  long  cactus 
hedge,  planted  by  the  old  monks  to  define  their  posses- 


CURIOUS  BELLS  AND  DOORS.  263 

sions.  On  the  outside  wall  of  the  church,  high  out  of  reach, 
are  the  empty  niches  of  forgotten  saints,  and  in  a  queer 
gable-like  belfry  hung,  each  in  its  own  niche,  the  old  bells, 
cast  in  Spain  more  than  a  century  ago,  for  a  church  in 
the  city  of  Mexico,  and  containing  no  small  quantity  of 
silver  and  gold,  cast  into  the  cauldron  of  seething  metal 
by  men,  women,  and  children,  whose  fervent  piety  had 
been  wrought  to  this  pitch  by  the  preaching  of  the 
Jesuits  about  to  sail  upon  the  mission,  whence  they  had 
only  returned  to  ask  for  aid.  The  bells  were  subsequently 
brought  to  San  Gabriel,  with  great  trouble  and  expense, 
on  the  backs  of  mules  and  oxen,  the  cost  of  transportation 
being  a  hide  for  each  pound  of  metal. 

The  day  of  their  arrival  was  made  a  great  fiesta  in  the 
colony,  the  Indians  coming  from  far  and  near  with  their 
offerings,  and  showing  as  much  pride  and  delight  in  their 
church's  new  power  and  dignity  as  the  padres  them 
selves. 

The  old  doors  also,  oaken  and  curiously  clamped  and 
embossed  with  iron,  were  brought  from  Spain,  as  were 
some  of  the  pictures,  and  other  altar  ornaments,  com 
munion  plate,  etc. 

The  keys  were  brought  and  we  went  in,  the  interior 
was  dusky  and  venerable,  but  poor ;  the  windows  were 
high  up,  small  and  dusty,  the  roof  unornamented,  the 
floor  uneven  and  decaying ;  a  few  bare  pews — a  modern 
innovation — and  some  prie-dieux  afforded  accommodation 
for  such  worshippers  as  objected  to  the  floor. 

Upon  the  pillars  near  the  door  hung  tin  placards, 
whose  rudely  lettered  English  inscription  called  a  blush 


264  THE  MISSION  ORCHARDS. 

of  shame  to  my  cheek,  by  its  suggestion  of  what  conduct 
on  the  part  of  my  countrymen  must  have  necessitated 
them  ;  these  were : 

"  Take  off  your  hats,"  and  "  Behave  yourself." 

The  walls  were  crumbling  and  cracked,  with  great 
red  weather-stains,  and  the  aspect  of  everything  mournful 
and  neglected. 

Near  the  chancel  were  two  confessionals,  and  one 
smiled  to  fancy  the  cJironique  scandaleuse  their  hundred 
years'  experience  would  furnish,  could  the  brown  old 
gratings  repeat  the  secrets  whispered  through  them. 

The  altar  had  been  in  its  day  rich  and  handsome, 
with  a  great  altar-piece  in  six  compartments  behind  it, 
and  six  great  wax  candles  upon  it,  besides  plenty  of 
flowers,  vases,  and  silk  and  lace  hangings.  An  adoring 
cherub  in  plaster  knelt  upon  a  pedestal  at  either  end,  and 
the  chancel  was  decked  in  the  usual  style. 

We  next  went  to  visit  the  old  orchards,  still  well 
stocked  with  the  fruits  and  vines  the  Sybaritish  fathers 
brought  to  such  perfection,  but,  like  the  church  and  the 
mission,  going  slowly  and  inevitably  to  decay. 

An  adobe  hut  with  a  red-tiled  roof  stood  just  inside, 
and  as  we  entered,  a  Mexican  woman,  with  bright  blue 
eyes  and  a  pleasant  face,  came  out  to  meet  us,  followed 
by  a  padre,  with  a  broad  bland  face,  smoking  a  ciga 
rette.  Besides  these,  the  hut  seemed  to  contain  an  indefi 
nite  number  of  children,  dogs,  and  fowls  who  swarmed 
in  and  out  during  our  brief  stay. 

The  padre  was  from  old  Spain,  and  his  sixteen  years' 
exile  in  California  had  reduced  him  to  an  apathetic  con- 


A  SPANISH  PADRE.  265 

dition,  from  which  he  found  it  hard  to  rouse  himself. 
He  seemed  to  take  it  for  granted  that  I  was  a  compatriot 
and  daughter  in  the  faith,  addressing  me  as  Jiija  and 
making  fatherly  inquiries  into  my  temporal  rather  than 
spiritual  concerns. 

"  Was  I  married  ?  Yes.  To  a  Spaniard?  No,  to  an 
Anglo-Saxon.  Well,  perhaps  I  had  done  wisely ;  he  had 
heard  they  were  generally  rich,  and  kind  to  their  wives, 
and  although  they  were  not  of  the  true  faith — yes,  per 
haps  it  was  as  well  on  the  whole." 

Having  thus  satisfied  his  conscience  and  curiosity,  the 
padre  turned  his  attention  to  hospitality  and  led  us  round 
the  orchard,  followed  by  the  Mexican  woman  with  the 
lovely  blue  eyes,  who  made  up  for  his  apathetic  reserve 
by  the  most  amiable  and  chirrupy  volubility  imaginable, 
loading  us  with  oranges  and  sweet  lemons  in  abundance. 
The  padre  at  parting  plucking  us  each  a  branch  of 
the  latter,  and  an  especially  fine  one  for  his  new-found 
daughter. 

After  we  were  seated  in  the  carriage  the  Mexican 
lady's  husband  came  out  bringing  a  sack  of  oranges  for 
us,  and  waved  off  the  silver  offered  to  him  with  true 
Castilian  scorn. 

From  the  Mission  we  had  a  short  drive  back  to  Santa 
Anita,  and  arrived  just  in  time  for  a  hasty  toilet  before 
dinner,  which  was  as  sumptuous  as  it  was  cheerful  and 
home-like.  Indeed  nothing  could  exceed  the  hospitality 
and  kindness  extended  to  our  large  party  by  the  cour 
teous  master  of  Santa  Anita ;  from  the  moment  of  our 

arrival,  when  he  surrendered  his  own  elegant  apartment 
12 


266  TASTEFUL  BALDWIN. 

to  our  use,  to  that  of  our  parting  in  Los  Angeles,  there 
was  no  possible  attention  or  courtesy  that  was  not  offered, 
and  the  two  days  passed  beneath  his  roof  are  one  of  our 
pleasant  reminiscences  of  California. 

One  seldom  hears  Mr.  Baldwin's  name  spoken  in  the 
land  of  his  adoption — for  he  is  an  Ohioan  by  birth — with 
out  the  prefix  of  "  Lucky,"  and  certainly  his  story  would 
show  him  to  be  one  of  those  rare  individuals  whose  touch 
converts  everything  into  gold.  Perhaps,  however,  in  all 
such  histories  one  may  discern  the  foundations  of  "luck" 
in  shrewdness,  clear-sightedness,  courage,  a  wise  prudence 
alternating  with  a  wise  audacity,  and  a  resolute  will.  All 
these  qualities  I  fancied  myself  able  to  read  in  our  host's 
penetrating  eyes  and  reticent  lips,  and  I  think,  knowing 
nothing  of  him  or  his  career,  I  should  have  said,  "  There 
is  a  man  who  will  have  the  oyster  out  of  this  world's  shell, 
let  it  be  closed  never  so  resolutely  against  him !  " 

But  I  would  rather  after  all  call  him  Tasteful  than 
Lucky  Baldwin  ;  for  an  inspection  of  his  hotel,  his  theatre, 
and  his  ranch,  must  prove  him  to  deserve  this  title  even 
more  distinctly  than  the  other. 

After  dinner  we  strolled  out  for  a  walk,  and  straying 
up  the  hill,  came  upon  the  Chinese  huts,  outside  of  which 
the  men  were  sitting  eating  bacon  and  rice  with  chop 
sticks.  They  were  not  so  clean  as  those  we  had  been  ac 
customed  to  see,  and  the  peculiar  odor  of  the  Oriental 
was  more  pronounced,  but  they  all  looked  very  jolly  and 
comfortable. 

Passing  on  we  arrived  at  the  Mexican  cabins,  and 
paused  for  a  little  conversation,  the  men  speaking  broken 


INSIDE  A  SPANISH  HUT.  267 

English,  but  the  women  only  Spanish.  The  huts  are  the 
queerest  little  burrows  imaginable,  compounded  of  mud 
thatch  and  sail-cloth,  and  hardly  larger  than  a  rabbit- 
hutch. 

A  stately  woman,  with  a  black  mantilla  wound  round 
her  head,  invited  us,  with  quite  an  air  of  condescension,  to 
come  in  and  sit  down,  and  we  accepted  so  far  as  to  step 
inside  the  door  and  look  around.  In  one  corner  of  the 
mud  floor  some  hens  were  peacefully  burrowing,  a  small 
fire  burned  in  a  hole  about  the  centre,  the  stars  peeped 
through  the  ragged  thatch,  and  in  a  dark  corner  was  a  dim 
horror  which  may  have  been  a  bed.  The  whole  house 
was  as  large  as  a  small  chamber,  and  not  high  enough  for 
a  tall  man  to  stand  upright ;  but  it  was  the  home  of  a  large 
family — father,  mother,  and  children. 

Outside  another  house  stood  its  mistress,  the  prettiest 
possible  Spanish  girl  with  two  little  children,  Juanito  and 
Tomasita— the  former  a  boy  four  years  old,  clothed  upon 
with  a  filthy  little  shirt  reaching  to  his  waist,  and  opened 
from  the  throat,  whence  it  was  confined  by  a  providential 
button.  Tomasita  was  a  thin,  brown  baby,  wearing  ear 
rings  and  a  white  petticoat,  and  clinging  to  her  mother's 
neck. 

A  great  many  dark-bearded,  grinning  men  clustered 
around  us  as  we  stood  here ;  but  all  polite  and  amiable  as 
the  Chinese  themselves. 

Returning  we  stopped  at  the  little  lake,  literally  in 
front  of  Mr.  Baldwin's  door,  and  we  were  rowed  out  in 
his  pretty  little  boat  upon  its  moonlit  waters.  The  shores 
were  lined  with  little  coves  in  which  the  herons  and  cranes 


268  A  FIERY  MUSTANG. 

were  rustling  about,  and  a  chorus  of  frogs  came  in  like  a 
hailstorm  of  castanets. 

The  next  morning,  as  we  sat  upon  the  varanda,  a  fiery 
little  mustang  dashed  up  the  avenue  and  his  rider  dis 
mounted  at  the  steps — a  handsome  man,  picturesquely 
dressed  in  buckskin,  wearing  a  sombrero,  high  boots,  and 
great  cruel  spurs.  This  was  Fragnani,  the  artist,  who  has 
been  living  for  two  years  near  the  Mission,  painting  local 
pictures  and  making  studies  for  future  works. 

He  came  to  call  upon  the  Chief,  and  invited  us  to  stop 
upon  our  way  to  Los  Angeles  at  his  studio.  The  carriages 
came  around  and  we  set  forth,  Fragnani's  fierce  little 
horse  cantering  along  beside  'us,  sometimes  dashing  far 
ahead,  and  returning,  and  occasionally  bucking  and  cur 
veting  as  if  to  give  scope  for  his  rider's  perfect  horse 
manship. 

Our  last  sight  of  the  Mission  remains  an  indelible  pic 
ture  in  the  memory.  The  dry,  arid  plain  with  the  cone- 
shaped  purple  Mission  Hills  closing  the  horizon,  the  lonely, 
antique  church,  still,  silent  and  crumbling  to  decay,  the 
mossy  old  orchard  with  its  adobe  wall,  the  single  hedge  of 
cactus,  the  cluster  of  little  thatched  and  tiled  huts,  with  two 
tall  palms  standing  gaunt  and  dry  in  the  fierce  sunshine,  a 
dark  grove  of  orange  trees  beyond  the  village,  and  for  all 
sign  of  life  the  artist  spurring  his  diabolical  little  horse 
across  the  plain,  or  pausing  to  let  us  examine  the  saddle 
and  big  stirrups — flaps  of  stamped  leather,  and  the  head 
stall,  bridle,  and  whip  all  in  one  piece  of  braided  and 
tasselled  raw-hide. 

On  parting  with  us  at  Los  Angeles,  Mr.  Fragnani  pre- 


PECULIAR  PETS.  260 

sented  me  with  a  fine  specimen  of  the  horned-toad,  peculiar 
to  Southern  California.  They  are  said  to  become  so  tame 
as  to  answer  to  a  name,  and  are  certainly  very  economical 
pets,  as  they  live  entirely  upon  flies.  Our  toad,  for  whom 
a  rat-trap  was  purchased  as  a  domicile,  bore  the  journey 
Northward  admirably,  the  only  young,  unmarried  lady  of 
tLe  party  constituting  herself  the  toad-godmother,  and  the 
gentlemen  developing  wonderful  zeal  and  industry  in 
catering  for  him ;  but  soon  after  his  arrival  at  his  new 
home  he  sickened,  declined  the  daintiest  of  flies,  emaciated 
painfully,  seemed  to  collapse,  and  finally  became  extinct. 

A  still  more  tragic  fate  awaited  a  pair  of  prairie  dogs, 
which  with  much  care  and  solicitude  we  brought  home  from 
their  native  heath.  They  are  not  pleasant  pets,  having 
sharp  teeth  which  they  use  on  the  hand  that  feeds  them 
whenever  they  get  the  chance,  and  exhaling  a  rank  and 
acrid  odor.  They  behaved  like  saints  and  martyrs  upon 
the  journey,  however,  eating  grass,  and  never  once  break 
ing  bounds;  but  no  sooner  were  they  placed  upon  the 
ground  in  Saratoga  than  they  gnawed  their  way  out  of 
their  wooden  cage  and  were  immediately  pursued  and 
killed  by  the  gardener,  who  took  them  for  another  kind 
of  pretty  and  odorous  little  beast. 

From  Mr.  Fragnani's  and  the  Mission  San  Gabriel  we 
drove  directly  into  town,  and  at  the  station  bade  good-by 
to  Mr.  Baldwin  and  the  artist,  and  from  thence  took  train 
for  Santa  Monica,  the  Long  Branch  of  California. 


CHAPTER  XXXL 

SANTA     MONICA. 

railway  between  Los  Angeles  and  Santa  Monica 
JL  is  a  new  one,  without  connection,  but  has  already, 
in  its  two  years'  existence,  paid  the  cost  of  its  construction. 
It  is  a  pretty  route,  running  along  by  the  San  Gabriel  and 
Santa  Monica  mountains,  straight  down  to  the  sea,  where 
it  ends  in  a  pier  nearly  a  mile  long  running  out  into  the 
Pacific  Ocean. 

We  passed  through  estates  belonging  to  a  Mexican 
widow,  who  is  said  to  own  more  land  than  any  woman  in 
America.  Buying  land  is  very  difficult  here  on  account 
of  the  numerous  claims  in  the  old  Spanish  families,  who 
make  an  infinitude  of  trouble  among  American  settlers. 

We  reached  Santa  Monica  about  four  o'clock.  On  the 
right  stands  the  hotel — two  large  two-storied  buildings, 
connected  by  covered  piazzas,  and  containing  spacious, 
neat,  and  well-furnished  rooms,  similar  to,  and  quite  equal 
to  the  same  class  of  accommodations  in  our  best  hotels  at 
Long  Branch.  At  a  short  distance  is  a  pavilion  contain 
ing  fine  bowling  alleys,  ball-room,  rink  for  skating,  etc. 

No  sooner  had  we  reached  the  hotel  then  we  left  it 
again,  and  descending  several  flights  of  wooden  steps — • 
again  reminding  us  of  the  famous  New  Jersey  watering- 
place — made  our  way  to  the  beach.  These  cliffs  have  the 


AN  A  UDA  CIO  US  SEAL.  271 

appearance  of  crumbling,  brown  earth,  but  in  reality  are 
composed  of  a  very  rocky  sort  of  rock,  as  one  member  of 
our  party  discovered  in  attempting  to  run  down  a  steep 
incline,  striking  his  heel  into  what  he  supposed  earth,  and 
finding  himself  so  repelled  by  the  strong  substance,  that 
he  was  compelled  to  roll  and  pitch  down  any  way,  and 
arrived  at  the  foot  sorely  bumped  and  bruised. 

The  beach  is  soft  white  sand,  without  pebbles  or  shells, 
but  strewn  with  sea-weed  of  various  colors  and  kinds. 
The  sea  was  calm  and  blue  as  a  sapphire,  and  the  brown 
cliffs  curved  gracefully  down  to  meet  it,  forming  the  little 
Bay  of  Santa  Monica,  certainly  one  of  the  very  prettiest 
watering-places  on  any  coast.  We  wandered  up  and  down 
the  beach  until  tea-time,  and  the  younger  and  more  ro 
mantic  portion  of  the  party  returned  to  enjoy  it  by  the 
light  of  the  just  risen  full  moon. 

At  the  end  of  the  long  pier  was  a  little  house  occupied 
by  a  very  polite  young  man,  who  offered  his  spy-glass  with 
which  to  see  the  buoys  far  out  to  sea,  upon  which  the 
seals  do  love  to  congregate.  After  a  little  effort  we  were 
able  to  make  out  the  restless  buoys,  and  the  writhing  black 
creatures  might  have  been  seals  or  kelpies  for  anything 
we  could  determine. 

Last  year  a  very  big  seal  climbed  up  the  cliffs  to  the 
hotel,  and  tried  to  enter  the  parlor ;  he  was  driven  back 
to  the  sea  with  some  difficulty,  and  renewed  the  attempt 
on  another  night,  leaving  no  doubt  in  any  reasonable  mind 
that  he  was  the  victim  of  enchantment,  some  Tannhauser 
of  the  sea,  perhaps  ! 

Next  morning  we  drove  out  over  some  newly  construct- 


272  VISIT  TO  A  BEE-RANCH. 

ed  roads,  and  some  not  constructed  at  all,  but  only  staked 
out — for  Santa  Monica  is  essentially  a  new  place — and 
after  winding  through  thickets  of  chaparral  and  sumach, 
emerged  in  a  little  canon  between  two  mountains,  and 
here,  in  a  clearing,  stood  a  new  little  wooden  house,  sur 
rounded  by  rows  of  beehives,  children,  dogs,  and  a  pet 
lamb.  This  was  a  famous  bee-ranch,  recently  built  by  a 
celebrated  bee-raiser,  who  had  lately  been  obliged  to  leave 
his  old  ranch  on  account  of  its  desertion  by  the  bees,  who 
are  very  capricious  little  creatures. 

A  dark,  fresh-looking  Mexican  woman  came  out  to  show 
us  the  hives,  among  which  we  walked  quite  unharmed  by 
the  bees,  although  some  of  the  more  timid  of  the  party 
accepted  a  queer  transparent  covering  for  the  head  and 
face  by  way  of  protection  from  their  possible  stings. 

The  hives  are  boxes,  two-stories  high,  each  box  fitted  up 
with  frames  in  which  the  comb  is  made,  and  when  filled 
with  honey,  the  frames  are  taken  out  and  placed  in  a 
machine,  where  they  are  whirled  violently  round  and  the 
honey  thrown  out  by  centrifugal  force.  We  saw  one  hive 
of  a  small  variety  and  of  a  bright  yellow  which  are  con 
sidered  very  choice.  Among  the  hives  stood  barrels  of 
water  covered  with  thin  coarse  cloth,  upon  which  the  bees 
settle  and  draw  the  water  through  the  meshes  of  the 
cloth.  We  saw  no  flowers  growing  near,  and  could  not 
imagine  upon  what  the  bees  subsisted,  but  was  told  that 
they  will  travel  miles  to  find  their  favorite  food. 

Time  pressing  we  did  not  visit  any  more  of  the  bee- 
ranches,  of  which  there  is  an  infinite  number  in  this  vicin 
ity,  but  drove  back  to  the  hotel  and  were  soon  on  our 


A  DRIVE  AROUND  STOCKTON.  273 

return  trip  to  Los  Angeles,  traveling  in  the  private  palace 
car  belonging  to  Senator  Jones,  and  which  is  a  perfect 
little  bijou. 

Arrived  at  Los  Angeles  we  re-embarked  on  our  own 
car,  and  began  our  northward  journey.  ~  We  reached  the 
Tehachape  Pass  about  dusk,  and  had  an  admirable  moon 
light  view  of  the  wild  mountain  scenery  through  which 
the  road  curves  and  twists  and  doubles  in  a  perfectly 
marvellous  manner. 

We  reached  Stockton,  the  old  capital  of  California  in 
her  mining  days,  in  time  for  breakfast,  and  as  we  were  to 
remain  about  three  hours,  we  took  a  carriage  and  drove 
about  the  place.  It  stands  on  a  flat  and  sandy  plain,  and 
is  itself  flat  and  sandy  and  straggling,  with  wide  streets 
paved  in  wood,  and  fewer  handsome  houses  than  in  most 
California  towns  of  its  size  ;  almost  every  house,  however, 
possesses  a  croquet  ground,  with  an  awning  over  it,  and  a 
boarding  about  six  inches  high  around  it  to  keep  the 
bales  within  bounds. 

We  also  noticed  a  great  profusion  of  clipped  cedar, 
and  arbor-vitse  trees,  and  in  the  suburbs  we  came  across 
one  of  the  prettiest  public  gardens  we  have  seen  any 
where,  laid  out  with  nicely  gravelled  walks,  tall  hedges 
of  pinks  and  lavender,  and  great  colored  masses  of  bril 
liantly  colored  flowers.  Trellises  covered  with  passion 
flower,  and  other  vines,  were  artfully  placed  to  conceal 
the  boundary  walls,  and  there  were  tubs  for  watering  fed 
by  whirring  windmills  close  by  the  little  green-house 
where  the  plants  are  started. 

Stockton  is  the  location  of  the  State  Lunatic  Asylum, 
12* 


274  SACRAMENTO  AND  THE  "SHAKES." 

which  is  one  of  the  finest  of  this  melancholy  nature  in 
the  country. 

Returning  to  our  car,  laden  with  fruits  and  flowers,  we 
resumed  our  journey,  and  about  four  o'clock  reached 
Sacramento,  stopping  at  the  Arcade  House,  a  pleasant 
hotel  with  a  homelike  parlor  hung  with  pictures,  arid  not 
so  stereotyped  as  most  public  sitting-rooms.  We  went  out 
for  a  little  walk,  and  explored  all  the  principal  streets, 
which  are  quite  fine,  and  the  one  long  Chinese  shop  as 
good  as  any  we  had  previously  seen.  The  houses  are  all 
low,  on  account  of  the  often  recurring  "  shakes,"  whose 
effect  may  be  seen  in  many  quarters.  One  corner  of  our 
hotel  had  settled  considerably,  and  the  window  ledges 
were  cracked  and  sunken  in  consequence  of  one  of  these 
shakes. 

The  custom  pf  building  iron  braces  into  the  walls  is  a 
very  good  safeguard  against  serious  damage,  however, 
and  the  Arcade  is  well  protected  in  this  manner. 

At  nine  o'clock  we  were  again  in  our  car,  and  we 
passed  Cape  Horn  and  American  Canon,  with  all  its 
magnificent  scenery,  in  the  dead  hours  of  the  night,  wak 
ing  to  find  California  already  become  a  memory,  and  our 
delightful  sojourn  there  a  thing  of  the  past. 

One  last  glimpse  of  its  beauties  was  taken  as  we 
dashed  past  Donner  Lake,  a  beautiful,  still,  oval  sheet  of 
water,  bedded  deep  in  the  dark,  steep  hills ;  then  we 
plunged  into  a  snow-shed,  and  slid  down  the  steeps  of 
memory  into  a  profound  sleep,  which  made  recollection 
once  more  reality. 

Our  next  view  of  the  outer  world  was  at  Carson,  where 


THE  "TAILING"  PROCESS.  275 

the  train  stopped  for  breakfast,  and  we  took  a  cursory 
view  of  the  new,  bare,  comfortless  place,  whose  only  at 
traction  lay  in   the   streams   of   bright   water  running 
through  stone  channels  along  the  streets,  and  a  fountain 
set  in  a  little  square  of  greenery  close  to  the  station. 

Some  Indians,  dirty  and  squalid,  were  lounging  about, 
and  the  squaws  begged  vociferously,  as  usual,  while  the 
men  stood  ready  to  share  or  monopolize  the  plunder. 

There  is  a  rise  of  1,700  feet  from  Carson  to  Virginia 
City,  whither  we  were  bound,  and  the  train  winds  heavily 
up  between  mountain  walls  of  dust-brown  rock,  whereon 
grows  neither  tree,  shrub,  herb,  nor  blade  of  grass,  nothing 
with  life  or  motion  in  it,  except  the  brawling  Carson 
River,  which  plunges  down  between  these  mountains  on 
even  a  steeper  grade  than  the  road  winds  up. 

All  along  the  hills  were  little  burrowed  holes,  with 
heaps  of  powdery,  gray  earth  beside  them,  where  was,  or 
had  been  a  man  prospecting  for  gold,  and  nearly  all  the 
country  was  marked  out  with  stakes,  showing  the  claims 
of  the  different  miners  or  companies. 

In  a  hollow  by  the  river  we  passed  a  quartz  mill,  and 
saw  what  is  called  the  "  tailing "  process  going  on,  in 
which  the  refuse  washings  of  the  ore  are  passed  over  a 
stretched  blanket,  to  which  the  particles  of  gold  adhere 
and  are  saved. 

The  twistings,  and  curvings,  and  tunnellings,  and  climb- 
ings  of  the  road  grew  more  and  more  pronounced,  until 
one  looked  at  last  for  some  such  arrangement  as  that  at 
Mount  Washington,  where  the  car  wheels  are  fitted  with 
cogs  to  grasp  each  inch  of  the  rail,  and  the  traveller  feels 


276 


FROM  CARSON   TO   VIRGINIA   CITY. 


more  like  a  fly  walking  up  a  wall  than  a  rational  traveller 
upon  a  pleasure  excursion. 

The  distance  in  a  straight  line  from  Carson  to  Vir 
ginia  City  is  about  fifteen  miles,  but  by  the  windings  of 
the  road  this  is  more  than  triplicated. 


CUTTING  BARK  AND  CONES   AS  MEMENTOES  OF  THE  MARIPOSA  GROVE. 

Page  245. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

VIRGINIA    CITY    AND    THE    BIG    BONANZA. 

TO  call  a  place  dreary,  desolate,  homeless,  uncomfort 
able,  and  wicked  is  a  good  deal,  but  to  call  it 
God-forsaken  is  a  good  deal  more,  and  in  a  tolerably  large 
experience  of  this  world's  wonders,  we  never  found  a 
place  better  deserving  the  title  than  Virginia  City. 

To  commence  with,  the  conditions  of  its  being  are 
highly  disagreeable,  for  it  is  a  town  hooked  on,  as  it  were, 
to  the  precipitous  side  of  a  barren  aud  rocky  mountain, 
and  one  is  always  apprehensive  that  the  adhesive  power 
may  become  exhausted,  and  the  whole  place  go  sliding 
down  to  the  depths  of  the  valley  below. 

The  streets  are  mere  narrow  terraces  built  along  the 
face  of  this  precipice,  like  the  vineyards  along  the  Rhine, 
or  the  steps  of  the  Pyramids,  whose  arid  and  dusty  deso 
lation  they  also  imitate,  without  the  grandeur  and  mys 
tery  which  make  one  forget  the  rest. 

Leaving  the  station  we  climbed  a  steep  and  long  flight 
of  wooden  steps  to  the  street  above,  where  stood  the  hotel, 
a  very  good  one,  by  the  way,  and  flanked  by  some  sub 
stantial  stone  and  brick  buildings,  but  this  block  is  the 
exception  in  the  way  of  architecture,  the  rule  being  frame 
houses,  as  loosely  and  carelessly  put  together  as  a  child's 
card  house.  The  style  may  be  inferred  perhaps  from  the 


278     ONE  CHURCH  vs.  FORTY-NINE  GAMBLING  SALOONS. 

fact  that  about  two  years  ago  the  whole  town  burned 
down  one  night,  and  was  rebuilt  as  good  as  ever  in  six 
days. 

Nowhere  does  one  find  a  level,  the  streets  are  all  paral 
lel,  with  the  exception  of  one,  leading  up  the  mountain 
from  the  depot,  and  standing  in  any  of  them,  one-looks  off 
as  if  from  a  belfry,  across  the  tops  of  the  houses  below, 
and  over  the  chimneys  of  quartz  mills  and  mining  works 
still  lower  down,  until  vision  loses  itself  among  the  crowd 
ing  brown  peaks  and  waving  mountain  ranges,  never 
coming  to  any  resting  point  of  level  or  of  greenery,  before 
the  horizon  line  closes  the  dreary  scene. 

The  Prince  of  the- Power  of  Air  reigns  supreme  in  this 
region,  and  the  fierce  cold  wind  sweeps  through  the  nar 
row  streets  with  force  enough  to  take  one  off  one's  feet. 
Very  little  rain  falls  here,  but  plenty  of  snow,  coming 
early  and  remaining  late,  indeed  possible  in  any  month  of 
the  year,  and  sometimes  lying  there  three  feet  deep  in 
May,  in  which  jocund  month  we  were  there. 

Virginia  City  boasts  of  forty-nine  gambling  saloons 
and  one  church,  open  the  day  we  were  there  for  a  funeral, 
an  event  of  frequent  occurrence  in  the  lawless  little  city. 
The  population  is  largely  masculine,  very  few  women,  ex 
cept  of  the  worst  class,  and  as  few  children. 

Chinese  are  rare,  not  being  in  favor  with  the  miners, 
who  have  a  horror  of  their  cheap  labor,  and  show  their 
dislike  in  very  vigorous  fashion  when  the  opportunity  oc 
curs. 

The  hotel  has  been  running  only  a  few  months,  but  is 
very  comfortable,  with  a  pretty  parlor  and  handsome 


THE  CALIFORNIA   OR  BONANZA  MINE.  279 

dining-room,  where  we  enjoyed  one  of  the  best  breakfasts 
since  leaving  San  Francisco.  A  carriage  was  in  waiting 
as  we  came  out  of  the  dining  hall  and  took  us  to  the  Bo 
nanza  Mines,  zigzagging  from  one  steep  and  narrow  street 
to  another,  like  a  magnified  Yosemite  trail  with  all  the 
attractiveness  left  out,  until  at  length  we  dismounted  at 
the  great  building  over  the  shaft  of  the  California  or  Bo 
nanza  Mine. 

Here  we  were  received  by  Mr,  Taylor,  the  Superinten 
dent,  and  one  of  the  most  courteous  and  attentive  of  men, 
who  invited  us  first  to  his  own  charming  bachelor  apart 
ments  in  the  mill  building,  and  then  took  us  all  over  the 
works  and  showed  us  the  entire  process  of  this  sort  of  gold 
and  silver  mining ;  first,  the  cages  running  night  and  day 
hauling  up  the  masses  of  quartz  rock,  which  the  miners, 
far  below,  have  picked  and  shovelled  out  of  its  natural 
bed  ;  then  the  crushing  of  the  quartz,  and  its  agglomera 
tion  with  water  in  the  great  vats,  into  a  dingy  lead-colored 
pudding;  then  the  amalgam  mixed  with  quicksilver 
pouring  out  into  iron  vessels,  in  which  it  is  taken  to  the 
crucibles,  the  quicksilver  eliminated,  and  recondensed  for 
farther  service,  the  residuum  of  metal — gold  and  silver 
ore — run  into  bars  and  stamped. 

We  saw  machinery  enough  to  drive  one  crazy,  and 
were  almost  suffocated  with  its  hot,  oily  smell  and  steam, 
besides  being  deafened  by  the  stamping  and  banging  and 
crashing  of  the  quartz-crushing  machines  which  keep  that 
whole  section  of  the  building  in  a  state  of  jar  and  quiver, 
like  an  impending  earthquake. 

In  another  portion  of  the  edifice  we  saw  the  pumps 


280  EXTRACTING   THE  ORE. 

which  are  always  at  work  taking  the  water  out  of  the 
mine,  and  looked  down  the  shaft  used  by  the  miners,  two 
square  black  holes,  close  together,  with  a  cloud  of  hot, 
white  steam  always  floating  up  from  them,  product  of  the 
heat  and  damp  below,  and  each  provided  with  an  eleva 
tor  worked  by  broad  bands  of  wrought  and  woven  wire, 
immensely  strong. 

Postponing  any  farther  investigations  until  the  mor 
row,  we  left  the  mills  and  drove  about  the  city,  seeing  little 
more,  however,  than  has  already  been  described,  returned 
to  the  hotel  for  dinner,  and  after  a  while  strolled  out  to 
see  what  changes  might  have  been  wrought  by  night  and 
moonlight. 

The  changes -were  noticeable  but  not  beautifying,  and 
the  two  policemen,  who  followed  close  at  our  heels,  were 
by  no  means  a  guard  of  ceremony  but  a  most  necessary 
protection.  Every  other  house  was  a  drinking  or  gambling 
saloon,  and  we  passed  a  great  many  brilliantly  lighted 
windows,  where  sat  audacious  looking  women  who  freely 
chatted  with  passers-by  or  entertained  guests  within. 

Cheyenne  did  not  seem  to  us  to  deserve  its  mournful 
sobriquet,  and  Virginia  City  equally  did  seem  to  deserve, 
although  it  has  not  received  it. 

The  next  morning  we  walked  to  the  assaying  office,  to 
see  the  gold  and  silver  taken  from  the  crucibles  in  which 
they  are  finally  purified,  and  we  subsequently  returned  to 
the  Bonanza  or  California  Mine,  the  chief  and  some  others 
of  the  party  having  resolved  to  explore  its  depths. 

This  mine  is  principally  owned  by  Messrs.  Flood  & 
O'Brien,  and  Mr.  Fair.  The  two  former  kept  a  small 


A  HAPPY  "HIT."  281 

drinking  saloon  in  San  Francisco,  and  were  on  intimate 
terms  with  some  of  their  miner  customers,  one  of  whom, 
waxing  confidential  and  good-humored  in  his  cups,  in 
formed  them  of  a  wonderful  "lode  "just  discovered  and 
not  yet  known.  With  wise  audacity  they  sold  all  that 
they  possessed  and  invested  every  cent  in  the  quarter  in 
dicated,  managed  to  get  control  of  the  whole  mine,  worked 
it  wisely  and  fortunately,  and  to-day  are  said  to  be  worth 
fifteen  millions  each. 

Mr.  Fair,  although  equally  rich,  resides  on  the  spot, 
and  passes  three  hours  daily  down  in  the  mine,  personally 
superintending  its  operations.  The  receipts  for  this  mine 
during  fifteen  months,  were  $24,850,524.85 — and  for  over 
a  year  it  has  divided  a  million  monthly,  with  no  signs  of 
exhaustion. 

Mr.  Fair  took  us  first  to  the  large  long  room  where  the 
miners  change  their  clothes,  and  which  was  hung  closely 
all  around  from  the  roof  with  miners'  shirts  and  trousers, 
while  on  a  long  frame  down  the  middle  of  the  place  stood 
their  big,  heavy  shoes  or  brogans. 

The  men  are  divided  into  gangs,  each  working  eight 
hours,  and  each  gang  having  its  division  of  this  room,  and 
every  man  his  own  especial  hook,  where  he  keeps  his 
mining  suit  not  in  wear,  it  being  necessary  to  change 
thoroughly  every  time  they  come  out  of  the  mine. 

The  men  are  mostly  Cornish — no  Irish  and  no  Chinese 
allowed.  The  owners  would  like  to  employ  the  latter, 
but  the  Miners'  Union  is  too  strong  for  them,  dictating 
eight  hours  a  day  as  the  period  for  labor,  wages  of  four 
dollars  per  diem,  and  no  competition. 


282  DOWN  THE  SHAFT. 

The  miners  embrace  every  class  of  men,  socially 
speaking,  from  the  lowest  grade  of  laborer  to  the  ex- 
United  States  Senator,  or  man  of  title,  obliged  to  resort 
to  manual  labor,  and  too  proud  to  perform  it  in  open  day 
light,  preferring  to  pass  his  existence  in  digging  living 
graves  1,700  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  earth. 

Returning  to  the  shaft,  we  encountered  a  party  of 
miners  just  dressed  to  go  down,  having  changed  their 
clothes  in  the  little  office  near  the  mouth  of  the  pit.  They 
looked  very  wild  and  strange  in  their  great  solid  hats,  like 
roofd,  stiff  enough  to  protect  the  head  from  falling  bits  of 
rock,  their  uncouth  clothes  and  great  brogans,  each  man 
carrying  a  lantern  in  his  hand. 

Nine  men  crowd  upon  the  elevator  at  once,  and  at  a 
given  signal  go  dashing  down  into  the  hot,  white  steam, 
disappearing  in  a  moment,  absolutely  swallowed  up  in  the 
earth.  The  place  swarmed  with  miners  waiting  their 
turn  to  go  down,  the  elevator  making  its  trip  in  about  fif 
teen  minutes. 

A  set  came  up  while  we  stood  looking  after  those  who 
had  gone  down  the  other  shaft,  and  such  a  set  of  ghosts 
one  never  saw :  pale,  exhausted,  dripping  with  water  and 
perspiration,  some  with  their  shirts  torn  off  and  naked  to 
the  waist,  all  of  them  haggard  and  dazed  with  the  long 
darkness  and  toil.  The  heat  in  the  shaft  is  fearful,  and 
although  the  galleries  are  cooler,  it  is  still  so  warm  that 
the  men  are  obliged  to  work  half  naked,  sometimes  wholly 
so,  and  word  is  always  sent  down  when  ladies  are  about 
to  visit  the  mine. 

Presently  the  chief,  with  the  "  forlorn  hope,"  who  had 


A  DARK  MYSTERIOUS  PIT.  283 

volunteered  to  accompany  him  underground,  retired  to 
the  dressing-room,  and  soon  returned  so  queerly  metamor 
phosed  that  it  was  hard  to  recognize  them,  an'd  various 
complimentary  remarks  and  quizzical  comparisons  accom 
panied  them  as  they  somewhat  gingerly  "stepped  upon  the 
elevator  and  began  their  descent. 

A  sudden  thrill  of  vague  horror,  however,  superseded 
all  disposition  to  laughter  as  the  car  swiftly  and  suddenly 
took  our  friends  from  our  very  midst,  leaving  only  the 
black  shaft  with  its  ghostly  clouds  of  hot,  white  steam  to 
show  where  they  had  been.  It  was  too  much  like  that 
other  dark  and  mysterious  pit  into  which  most  of  us 
have  watched  our  friends  go  down  to  return  no  more,  and 
I  for  one  turned  away  shuddering  and  afeard. 

The  party  remained  below  two  hours,  and  returned 
tired,  excited,  delighted,  and  loquacious,  to  find  us  com 
fortably  settled  in  Mr.  Taylor's  room,  dispelling  our 
anxiety  as  best  we  might  by  selections  from  our  host's 
numberless  volumes  of  our  favorite  poets. 

So  soon  as  our  friends  had  bathed — for  the  directors 
have  a  private  bath  and  dressing-room,  which  had  been 
placed  at  the  disposal  of  our  party — and  resumed  their 
usual  attire,  and  we  had  bidden  good-by  to  our  courteous 
hosts  of  the  Big  Bonanza  Mine,  we  returned  to  the  hotel, 
dined,  and  then  drove  to  our  car  in  the  midst  of  a  drench 
ing  rain,  almost  an  unknown  phenomenon  in  Virginia  City, 
and  looked  our  last  upon  the  bare,  brown  hills  and  the 
city  in  the  air  through  vertical  sheets  of  drifting  waters. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

HOMEWARD     BOUND. 

AT  Ogden  we  resumed  our  Pullman  car  and  settled 
ourselves  in  most  luxurious  manner  just  in  time 
for  breakfast.  The  rain  still  fell,  but  less  furiously,  and 
finally  departed  just  in  time  to  allow  us  to  enjoy  the 
glories  of  Weber's  Canon. 

At  Green  River  we  stopped  for  twenty  minutes,  and 
got  out  to  see  some  newly-caught  California  lions,  romp 
ing  and  snarling  in  their  cages  on  the  platform. 

An  editorial  party  from  Nebraska  were  on  board  with 
a  small  press,  on  which  they  printed  the  daily  journal  of 
their  travels.  We  went  forward  to  return  their  visits,  and 
in  order  to  do  so  had  to  pass  through  two  or  three  sleep 
ing-cars  closely  packed,  and  an  emigrant-car  where,  by 
the  dull  light,  we  could  see  the  poor  creatures  curled  and 
huddled  up  in  heaps  for  the  night,  with  no  possibility  of 
lying  down  comfortably ;  but  men,  women,  bundles,  bas 
kets,  and  babies,  in  one  promiscuous  heap. 

During  the  darkness  of  the  night  we  recrossed  the 
Rockies,  missing  all  the  magnificent  scenery  we  had  so 
enjoyed  on  the  outward  trip.  We  made  a  little  reconnais 
sance  of  Cheyenne,  but  found  it  this  time  quite  deserted ; 
not  a  scout  nor  an  emigrant  to  be  seen. 

There  was  a  beautiful  red  sunset  as  we  passed  the  buttes 


SYDNEY  AND  DETROIT.  285 

near  Sydney,  and  dusk  was  jnst  coming  on  as  we  stopped 
at  the  town.  The  conductor  strongly  advised  against  any 
exploration  of  this  place,  at  least  by  the  ladies,  and  so  of 
course  we  all  assumed  our  bonnets  and  started  forth,  vis 
iting  tirst  the  tent  of  a  photographer  who  said  that  the 
town  was  unusually  quiet  just  now,  but  that  fights  and 
murders  were  of  common  occurrence,  and  that  the  inhab 
itants  thought  nothing  of  shooting  a  man  who  happened 
to  hold  different  opinions  from  themselves,  emphasizing 
his  remarks  by  pointing  to  the  graveyard  and  declaring 
that  "pretty  near  every  man  there  died  with  his  boots 
on!" 

The  next  day  and  the  next  we  travelled  without  stop 
ping,  passing  through  Omaha  and  Chicago,  and  on  the  fol 
lowing  we  reached  Detroit,  pausing  for  a  day  to  look  about 
the  fine  city  and  see  our  old  friend  Senator  Chandler,  who 
took  us  to  drive  behind  his  superb  span  of  horses,  and  to 
visit  his  elegant  yacht — a  fine  sea-going  craft.  We  passed 
a  portion  of  the  evening  at  his  magnificent  and  tasteful 
home,  and  the  day  following  found  ourselves  back  in 
Gotham — a  couple  of  months  older  than  when  we  left  it 
for  the  Golden  Gate,  and  years  older  and  incalculably 
richer  in  novel  and  charming  experiences  and  grateful 
memories  of  the  hospitality  and  courtesy  extended  to  us, 
and  the  new  friends  who  had  treated  us  as  old  friends,  and 
had  gained  in  our  recollection  a  place  which  time  will 
never  obliterate. 


286 


GO    WEST  I 


As  P envoi,  I  can  say  no  more  and  no  less  than  this  to 
all  the  dear  public  who  year  by  year  wander  up  and  down 
the  earth  seeking  and  not  always  finding  delight,  and  ex 
pending  money,  which  by  no  means  always  brings  its 
pro  quid  of  enjoyment.  To  them,  I  say,  Go  West,  my 
friends,  Go  West !  Within  the  Golden  Gate  lies  all  that 
you  desire.  Go  West ! 


THE   END. 


FAITHFUL  FOLLETTE. 


1878. 


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Macaria  i  75 

Inez i  75 


St.  Elmo.. 

Vashti 

Infelice (New) 


50 
50 
50 
50 
50 
50 
50 
50 
5c 
50  oo 


.$2  00 
.  2  OO 

.  a  oo 


a  G.   W.  CARLE  TON  &*  CO*  S  PUBLICATIONS. 

May    Agues 

Guy  Earlscourt's  Wife. $i 

A  Terrible  Secret i  75 

Norine's  Revenge i  75 

Silent  and  True— (New)    

M.    Michelet's    Works. 

Love  (L' Amour)— Translation $i  50  |  Woman  ( La  Fe m me)— Translation $i  50 

Miriam    Coles    Harris. 

Rutledge i  50  I   The  Sutherlands $i  50 

Frank  Warrington 150)   St.  Philip's 150 


oman $  i  75 

A  Mad  Marriage i  75 

One  Night's  Mystery i  75 


Kate  Danton 


75 


Louie's  Last  Term,  etc i  50 

Richard  Vandermarck i  50 

Italian    Novels. 

*    50 


Round  Hearts,  for  Children i  50 

A  Perfect  Adonis— (New) i  50 


Dr.  Antonio — By  Ruffini $i  50  |   Beatrice  Cenci — By  Guerrazzi $i  50 

Julie    P.    Smith's    Novels. 
Widow  Goldsmith's  Daughter..  $  i  75   |  The  Widower $i  75 


Chris  and  Otho i  75 

Ten  Old  Maids i  75 

His  Young  Wife— (New) i  75 


The  Married  Belle i  75 

Courting  and  Farming i  75 


Victor  Hugo. 

Les  Miserables — In  English $2  50  |  Les   Miserables — In  Spanish $5  oo 

Captain    Mayne    Reid. 


The  White  Chief  ................  $i  50 

The  Tiger  Hunter  ........  .......  i  50 

The  Hunter's  Feast  ..............   i  50 

Wild  Life  ...................  ....  i  50 

Osceola,  the  Seminole  ...........  i  50 


$2  oo 


The  Scalp  Hunters $i  50 

The  Rifle  Rangers i  50 

The  War  Trail i  50 

The  Wood  Rangers 150 

The  Wild  Huntress i  50 

Artemus 
Complete  Comic  Writings — With  Biography,  Portrait,  and  50  Illustrations .. 

A.    S.    Roe's    Select    Stories. 

True  to  the  Last $i  50      A  Long  Look  Ahead $i  50 

The  Star  and  the  Cloud i  50      I've  Been  Thinking i  50 

How  Could  He  Help  It  ? i  50      To  Love  and  to  be  Loved i  50 

Charles    Dickens. 

Child's  History  of  England— Carleton's  New  " School  Edition."     Illustrated.  $i  25 

Paper    Covers,    50  Cents— Cloth,    $1.00. 


Tom's  Wife— By  G.  P.  Tallman 

That  Comic  Primer — By  Frank  Bellew. 

That  Awful  Boy 

That  Bridget  of  Ours 

Our  Artist  in  Cuba,  etc.  G.  W.  Carleton. 
Why  Wife  and  T  Quarreled 


Solomon  Isaacs— By  B.  L.  Farjeon. 
That  Horrid  Girl 


Me— July  and  August.  By  Mrs.  S.  C.  Coe. 

He  and  I— Sarah  B.  Stebbins 

Annals  of  a  Baby —    do 

That  Charming  Evening— Bellew 


Mrs.    Hill's    Cook    Book. 

Mrs.  A.  P.  Hill's  New  Southern  Cookery  Book,  and  domestic  receipts $2  oo 

Hand-Books    of   Society. 

The  Habits  of  Good  Society — The  nice  points  of  taste  and  good  manners fi  50 

The  Art  of  Conversation — For  those  who  wish  to  be  agreeable  talkers i  50 

The  Arts  of  Writing,  Reading,  and  Speaking — For  self-improvement i  50 

New  Diamond  Edition— Small  size,  elegantly  bound,  3  volumes  in  a  box 3  oo 

Carlcton's    Popular    Quotations. 

Carleton's  New  Hand-Book—Familiar  quotations,  with  their  authorship $i  50 

Famous    Books—"  Carleton's    Edit! 


Robinson  Crusoe— Griset's  Illus7.  $r  oo      Don  Quixote— Dore's  Illus $i  oo 

Arabian  Nights— Demoraine  Illus. .   i  oo     Swiss  Family  Robinson— Marcel    i  oo 

Josh    Billings. 

His  Complete  Writings— With  Biography,  steel  n  rtrait,  and  TOO  illustrations. $2  oo 
Trump  Cards— Illustrated 25  |  Farmer's  Alminax— Illustrated. ...       25 


